
REBEKAH CRAWFORD 




Glass \X 



V439 



Book aJ4 



FRHHKNTED RY 



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COMPREHENSIVE 



Physical Culture 



BY 

MABEL JENNESS 



" A stream cannot rise higher than its source, neither can the mental 
and moral faculties be stronger than the source from which they derive 
life and activity " — Mabel Jenness 



•ffUustrateb 



BECKTOLD & CO,, 

ST. LOUIS, MO. 
1892. 






Copyright, 1891 
By MABEL JENNESS 







li 



i 



PREFACE 



T^HE following pages upon physical culture are written in 
-*■ answer to a demand for a comprehensive work upon 
this subject, which has met me everywhere during the years 
that I have been upon the platform as lecturer on the science 
of physical education. In almost every instance where classes 
have been conducted according to my system, the pupils have 
wished for a book with which to review the exercises they 
found so universally beneficial. A series of articles in answer 
to this need was published in the Jenness Miller Magazine, 
but a hand-book which should contain all the exercises of 
my method was asked for, not only by members of my 
audiences, but by teachers and those interested in the work 
throughout the country. 

It is believed that the book now presented to the public 
will find its way to popular favor, because it is founded upon 
an eclectic system, and not only contains many of the best 
exercises of the best known systems of physical exercise, 
but offers movements which I have personally originated, 
and whose value I have tested. The book is, moveover, de- 
signed with the special purpose of appealing to women in 
the home who feel the need of physical exercise, and yet 



vi ^ Preface, 

shrink, when opportunity offers, from the effort of class 
membership. 

While it will be found most valuable to those who desire a 
manual for self-instruction, it contains many suggestions for 
parents, teachers and public educators, which ought to make 
it equally popular in the home and in the schoolroom, and it 
will fail in its purpose if it does not awaken new interest re- 
garding the methods of physical education. 

I believe that no subject should be more carefully studied 
than the one pertaining to the health and development of chil- 
dren, and .if my remarks upon the education of girls should 
seem to some minds too radical, it must be remembered that 
in my travels from Maine to California, and from the Northern 
lakes to the gulf, I have known many young women and been 
the recipient of many confidences. And I know, whatever is 
asserted to the contrary, that American girls are suffering 
everywhere from the hot-house system of education to which 
they are subjected. The statistics of female colleges may 
make assertions most flattering to the health of their grad- 
uates, but when one meets everywhere women who physically 
refute these statements, what is she to believe ? 

The troubles from which the over-taxed feminine system 
suffers most are not of a character to parade before the world ; 
they are borne on in silence, often for years, when some 
critical eye discovers their existence. Few girls will confess 
to being tired or feeling ill until such a time as such con- 
fession is inevitable. One need, moreover, only visit the 



Preface, vii 

seminaries and schools of the land, and note the physical 
appearance of many of the giris, to know beyond the need 
of speech, the influences that are sapping the very forces 
of being. 

It is time that a grand halt was called in the mad rush our 
girls are making for diplomas which testify only to one-sided 
culture, and are the price of wasted force and lost vitality. 
The time is ripe for the establishment of schools which shall 
recognize the physical needs of the growing girl's system, and 
teach her to respect and not ignore the wonderful mechanism 
of her own organism. So deeply do I feel upon this subject, 
that I should like to be the pioneer of a movement which 
aimed to emancipate girls from the traditions, the conven- 
tionalities, the creeds which, to-day, fetter their lives. For 
two years in a girl's life I should like to have her live above 
the rasping, devitalizing influence of class-examinations and 
enforced study hours. I should like to make the school- 
room one grand kindergarten where the mind could unfold 
without being conscious that it was being taxed, and where 
healthful exercise should alternate with all mental effort, and 
if there are mothers who feel as I do upon this subject of 
education for their daughters, I want to be assured of their 
co-operation in a work J hope to see begun for my young 
countrywomen. 



CONTENTS. 



I. Physical Culture, 9 

11. Systems of Gymnastics, ..... 34 

III. Horseback Riding, Rowing, Swimming, Fencing 

AND Dancing, ..... 43 

IV. Hygiene of the Skin and Treatment of the 

Complexion, . . . . . . 59 

V. Baths, 77 

VI. Breathing, . . . ■ . . . . 95 

VII. General Theories, ..... 103 

VIII. Correct Standing Position, . . . .110 

IX. Poising Exercises, . . . . . 115 

X. Bending Exercises, . . . . .123 

XL Elongating Exercises, . . . . 135 

XII. Diaphragmatic and Abdominal Exercises, . 164 

XIII. The Hand and Arm, . . . . . 166 

XIV. Vocal Gymnastics, Throat, Chest and Bust, 180 
XV. Correct and Elegant Carriage, . . 187 

XVI. Miscellaneous Exercises, .... 202 

XVII. Miscellaneous Suggestions, . . . 209 



7 



PHYSICAL CULTURE. 

nPHERE are two unfailing indications that the subject of 
physical education is destined to receive in the next 
decade an amount of attention it has not had since the days 
when Greece produced men and women that have remained 
the models of art adown the ages. One of these indications is 
found in the growing interest of educated men and women 
regarding the best methods of physical development, the 
other is in the fact that it is no longer regarded as fashiona- 
ble to be puny and delicate, or as evidence of superior mental 
and moral endowment to be cadaverous and angular. 

An American association for the advancement of physical 
education recently held its fifth annual meeting, and the able 
papers there read, the discussions which took place, show that 
thoughtful minds are occupied with questions formerly regard- 
ed as unworthy the consideration of the intellectually devel- 
oped. 

In the fashionable world the modern belle is beginning to 
realize that grace and beauty are the result of obedience to 
nature's laws, and swimming baths, fencing rooms and teachers 



lo Physical Ctdhtre, 

of physical culture are popular "fads" of the present. The 
superstitions which taught past generations to regard such 
healthful influences as uhfeminine are being outgrown, and a 
healthier sentiment is beginning to leaven society. Among the 
saintly and the learned a new respect is being paid to a di- 
vinity and a science ignored in the ascetic ages, and the divin- 
ity of the human form, the science of health, are studies fast 
banishing the old ideas which made ruddiness incompatible 
with sanctity or flesh with brain. 

So long as physical culture was connected with suggestions 
of athletic exhibitions, and in many minds associated with the 
prize fighter's skill, there was an unconquerable prejudice 
against it. Its practice was supposed to mean the develop- 
ment of the physical or muscular system at the expense of the 
moral functions, and this belief was corroborated by the fact 
that professional athletes were almost never illustrations of 
harmonious development. That there could be any relation 
between the physical and psychical was a truth awaiting demon- 
stration. It was almost universally believed that care for the 
body meant indifference to what were generally regarded as 
the higher claims of life. It was not until men suffering from 
a succession of bodily ills began to question the wisdom of 
such ascetic doctrine, that new hope sprang up for the races 
well-nigh physically degenerate. It is only, however, within 



Physical Culture. 1 1 

recent years that the subject of physical education has ap- 
pealed to our public educators with any degree of force. 
Gymnasiums have, it is true, existed in connection with our 
larger schools and colleges, and daily exercise therein has often 
been made compulsory, but for the most the work has been 
directed mechanically and participated in a lifeless, perfunc- 
tory way. The old ideas regarding the insignificance of the 
physical are not yet extinct, and the moments spent in physi- 
cal exercise are in many instances regarded as wasted by both 
instructors and students. The work which is of primary im- 
portance to the future welfare of the race has not yet won to 
its performance, if it has to its advocacy, the enthusiastic help- 
ers upon whom its success depends. An idea prevails that 
anyone possessed of freedom of limb, quickness of motion, 
and a certain proficiency in athletic movements, is qualified to 
direct the physical education of the young, and it has been 
upon this theory that gymnastic exercises in most public 
schools have been conducted. Never did more fallacious doc- 
trine exist. The most thorough study of man as he is re- 
vealed in psychology, anatomy, physiology, history and phil- 
osophy should precede a profession of physical education. 
The old-timxc reverence of the Greeks for the human body 
must be revived before the present age can realize its possibili- 
ties. Every student of history knows the physical regime to 



12 Physical Ctdtm^e. 

which those of both sexes were subjected in the days of Ly- 
curgus. The women of Sparta shared the athletic sports of 
their brothers. No garments were worn by either sex which 
could fetter the body or rob it in motion of free, sinuous grace. 
The most profound thought of the time was directed to the 
study of means whereby physical beauty could be attained, 
and the outgrowth of this study was such a race of men and 
women as the world never saw before or since. Nor was the 
development of the Greek one-sided. He believed in the co- 
equal education of mind and body, and the attainment of a 
three-fold development. To his thought " the fleshly vehicle 
was but the means to lead on the soul to what is eternally and 
imperishably beautiful." This reverence for the human body 
which entered into all the thought of the Greek, made his 
study of physical education something more than the prac- 
tice of certain muscular exercises. He did not want strength 
at the sacrifice of beauty. He sought unity in development. 
A study of Grecian sculpture reveals something more than 
physical perfection ; it shows a refined development of the 
physical which could only have resulted from man's three- 
fold evolution. 

As love for physical beauty entered into the religion of the 
Greeks its possession was sought by all classes, and no one, 
therefore, considered the cultivation of the physical as an 



Physical Culture, 13 

undignified or unworthy occupation. Orators, poets, philoso- 
phers, sought by every possible means to win the favor of gods 
and of men by a synthetic development of all the powers. 
The Grecian sculptor revealed the result of this study. Every 
part of the figure portrayed the central thought. The hand 
emphasized the expression of the face, the chest was in har- 
mony with both, and it was the oneness of expression thus 
produced which gave perfection to the whole work, and it was 
because the Greek had studied the secrets of physical beauty 
that he was enabled to give to the world its highest ideals of 
the human form. 

Other nations beside the Greek have had athletic sports ; a 
love of physical exercise characterized all the early nations, 
but physical strength was sought for its value in war, not be- 
cause men associated its possibilities with ideas of religion or 
art. Men of great strength, men of marked muscular power 
were always the world's heroes in its early history, but the 
Greeks alone of the people of ancient time believed in a three- 
fold training, and to them art has ever turned for her models 
and philosophy for inspiration. To produce in these modern 
times a race of men and women as intellectually vigorous, as 
physically strong, as universally beautiful as were the Greeks, 
the same enthusiasm must enter into the study of the present 
respecting the laws of human perfection. Men and women 



14 Physical Culture 

must regard it as a religious duty to study the rules that gov- 
ern being and control health. Public educators must make it 
as much a part of their work to teach the immorality of dis- 
eased bodies as to talk about the sinfulness of theft and false- 
hood. 

So little is the relation of health to mental and moral 
conditions understood that it is one of the rarest of occur- 
rences for two people, though one or both may be physically 
diseased, to hesitate over the formation of a union, out of 
which other lives may come. In the higher schools and col- 
leges such subjects are never discussed and often the instruct- 
ors are themselves so physically degenerate as to be incapable 
of discussing such questions unless they were to point their 
remarks by making their own bodies serve as illustrations of 
the result of disobeyed laws. 

Candidates for teachers to our public schools are required 
to pass the most thorough examinations upon subjects per- 
taining to intellectual culture; in some of the larger cities a 
personal knowledge of European art centres is desired. But 
who ever hears of a candidate receiving a list of questions per- 
taining to individual physical health, development and educa- 
tion ? Who expects persons of marked intellectual culture to 
know or care much about the physical ? Who looks for a 
fine physique in a famous savant or the professor of a female 



Physical Ciilhi7^e. 15 

college? And yet why should not pupils of all ages and 
grades find in the teacher a model of physical as well as of 
mental and moral excellence? 

The awakened interest in physical education has but re- 
sulted, even in the more progressive cities, in the employment 
of special teachers of physical development and often these are 
regarded with but little respect by the students. They are 
looked upon as individuals who, lacking ability to do higher 
work, become teachers of calisthenics. Often it happens that 
such teachers are indeed persons of limited culture, neither 
physically nor mentally calculated to win the esteem of their 
classes. Wisely has it been said that "there is no other factor 
which is as prominent in the development of any profession as 
the kind of men who take upon themselves the functions of 
that profession," and true it is that the advance of physical 
education can never become very marked until it wins to its 
support men and women of the broadest culture. No teacher 
who is not alive to the importance of physical education should 
be allowed to teach in any department of our public schools, 
and if a special teacher in gymnastics be employed her work 
should be advanced by the intelligent co-operation of the 
instructors in the schools where she labors. Often failure to 
do good mental work is the result of physical disturbance; 
maiiy a child breaks down under the high mental pressure to 



1 6 Physical Culture, 

which he is subjected for want of instruction in laws regarding 
which his teacher is either ignorant or indifferent. It is urged 
by modern educators that a normal school course should enter 
into every teacher's preparation for her work, but the necessity 
of physical study in such a course is not urged with equal 
insistence. 

On every hand complaints are heard regarding the results 
of our modern school system. Longer study hours are sug- 
gested by some who believe that the deficiencies found in the 
education of the average boy and girl are due to short school 
sessions. And yet in contradistinction to such a theory are 
the names of men prominent in the country's history who 
made marvelous intellectual progress in youth on three 
or four months "schooling" a year. The free, out-of-door 
life enjoyed by these men in early life is not possible for 
present city-born generations, but the lesson taught by their 
lives should not be without effect upon the school directors of 
the present. "All professional biography teaches," says 
President Elliott, " that to win lasting distinction in sedentary 
in-door occupation, which tasks the brain and nervous sys- 
tem, extraordinary toughness of body must accompany 
extraordinary mental powers." 

It is not because the youth of the present does not study 
enough that his mental work is found unsatisfactory, hvS 



Physical Culture. 17 

rather because too much is attempted in defiance of natural 
law. Ten minutes, or perhaps twenty, are regarded as all- 
sufficient time out of the daily school session ot five or six 
hours for physical exercise, and when it is remembered that 
children are admitted to the public schools at the age of five 
years, and remain there ten, twelve, fourteen years, the wonder 
should be not that they learn so litde, but that they know as 
much as they do. 

If a child does poor mental work the physical condition 
should be inquired into. There are times in the lives of all 
children when absolute rest from study is essential to mental 
and physical health, but there is no consideration of such 
periods in the school-room of the present — the child is spurred 
on by the ambitious parent and the more ambitious teachers, 
though health be flagging and mind in consequence dull and 
sluggish. To tax the mental at the expense of the physical 
can in no wise prove a beneficial course to pursue ; a distaste 
for study is created and what knowledge is acquired is as val- 
ueless to its possessor for mental purposes as is the parrot's 
stock of words to him. Children thus crammed are not edu- 
cated in any sense of the term. The mind is treated as a ma- 
chine and becomes a mechanical factor of being. Love of 
study should grow with the wisely directed pupil ; his books 
become sources of joy to him, not as they too often are, hate- 



1 8 Physical Culture. 

ful reminders. "Were children more slowly educated," says 
a wise writer, "and in keeping with the natural development 
of their brains, and their physical growth carefully watched 
and encouraged, it is by no means certain that they would not 
be as far along in their studies when graduation comes as they 
are now under the cramming system. Be that as it may, far 
better that they be sent out into the world with strong bodies 
and the high spirits of health, but somewhat lacking in the 
way of education, than that they enter upon the struggle for a 
living premature of mind and ill developed of body. The 
deficiencies of the healthy youth will soon be supplied 
in his contact with the world, whereas the mental growth of 
him who is weak and puny must necessarily be slow, and the 
limit far short of that fixed for his fortunate comrade." 

The question of the present is not how many hours should 
be given td study, but how much time should be devoted to 
the development of the physical. If some of the lavish ex- 
penditures now made for means of intellectual culture could 
be made instead for securing physical education the outlay 
would prove far more advantageous to life, health and happi- 
ness in the future than can, under existing physical conditions, 
the purchase of numberless collections, laboratories, maps, etc. 
What will all the appliances of modern science avail the gen- 
erations of to-day if their study is at the expense of air, exer- 



Physical Culture. 19 

cise and strength ? More of the public money should be 
devoted to means of securing proper ventilation in school- 
rooms, to the employment of visiting physicians for the 
various rooms, to the laying out of play-grounds, and the 
intelligent daily practice of physical exercise. 

No greater wrong can be done a child than to deprive it of 
its possibilities for future health and happiness. It needs air 
and sunshine and exercise, as much as do the lambs upon the 
hillside. Care for the physical should be the first thought of 
every wise parent and teacher. Brain as well as body is 
destroyed by the violation of physical law. With all the 
opportunities for mental culture afforded by the schools of 
to-day they do not present the results achieved in the old red 
school-house of the past. 

What makes the difference between the puny, sickly, pale- 
faced, under-sized children who emerge from the school-house 
of to-day and the robust, rosy-cheeked, hearty boys and girls 
who came from that one of the past? There were no gymna- 
siums, no calisthenic exercises in that past, but there was an 
out-of-door life which developed brawn and quickened brain, 
and the play-ground, the attractive gymnasium and correct 
habits of dress, must do for the youth of the present what the 
very circumstances of life did for his ancestors. 

If an attempt is made to quicken physical being by the daily 



20 Physical Culture. 

practice of certain stereotyped exercises it will prove a failure. 
The greatest possible variety must enter into the movements 
given, and each day's practice increase the enjoyments of the 
participants. This a wise and. enthusiastic instructor can 
rhake possible. Gymnastics as at present practiced form a 
part of the school day's regular routine and are alike weari- 
some and unenjoyable. Were they given in a large, well- 
ventilated hall, and directed by a wisdom whose military dis- 
cipline was not its most conspicuous characteristic, marked 
physical changes would speedily be ^een in our boys and 
girls. 

The thought of the present has begun to recognize the need 
of greater attention to the physical, but it has not yet compre- 
hended in its entirety the necessity of making all forms of 
bodily exercise pleasurable. Boys gain strength and muscle 
on the play-ground because they enter into all their pastimes 
there with a heartiness of enjoyment which not only quickens 
the circulation of the blood, but stimulates every part of the 
being. No system of gymnastics can ever make the play- 
ground an unnecessary adjunct to the school-house, and in the 
near future it will echo no less loudly with the shouts of 
girlhood than with those of boyhood, and in the large, airy 
hall where both sexes will daily meet for indoor physical 
exercise, there will be no less of enjoyment than when the 



Physical Culture, 21 

pupils are unconscious of the teacher's watchful presence. 
It is doubtful if in that hall there will be any apparatus at all. 
Nature furnishes all that is needed for the development of the 
body. Through the harmonious work of all the muscles are 
the best physical results obtained. To this end there must be 
the same concentration of all the energies that is seen upon the 
play-ground, but it will prove no more disastrous in the one 
case than in the other. There will be no purposeless swing- 
ing to and fro of arms or legs, nor on the other hand will the 
lifting of ponderous weights to develop muscle be allowed. 
The physical education of the future will not have for its aim 
the making of athletes, but the creation of strong, healthy, 
beautiful bodies. Bodies which shall be as redundant in 
grace as they are in power. Nor will the girls of that future 
be taught as little respect for their own peculiar physical 
organism as exists among the little women of the present. 
To-day, the girls — the little girls — violate nature's laws in 
numberless ways. They seek to emulate their grown-up 
sisters in the matter of dress. Often their tiny, growing 
bodies are encased in corsets, as full of deadly bones as those 
worn by the mamm.as, and where the corsets are not worn 
waists almost as fatal to health take their place. 

Too much cannot be said about these same waists. Even 
the mothers who are desirous to dress their children hygieni- 



2 2 Physical Culture. 

cally do not perceive the injury which can be done to the 
growing form of the little woman by the wearing of a garment 
which they argue suspends the clothes from the shoulders and 
is loose about the waist, but, alas, compresses the embryo bust 
and retards the free development of the little figure. I 
believe that one of the prolific causes of the undeveloped 
forms so common among my country-women is due to the 
fact that in childhood, often up to the age of twelve or four- 
teen, they wear these self-same garments which I am describ- 
ing — the waist buttoned behind and drawn tightly over the 
chest and expanding form. A substitute for them should be 
found by every woman desirous of dressing her little daughter 
in conformity with the laws of health and of beauty, and with 
most children a garment which respects the requirements of 
the growing form should be worn as early as eight years. 

Mothers who value the possession of health and beauty for 
their daughters cannot provide too carefully for the influences 
that determine these conditions. The body of the growing 
girl should be as unrestricted as that of the growing boy, but 
instead of being now granted the freedom it demands it is fet- 
tered and swathed and cramped until all movement is unnat- 
ural, and the enjoyment of active exercise an impossibility. I 
have seen little girls of eight years whose stocking supporters 
were so tightly drawn that they could not bend the knees 



Physical Culture. 23 

sufficiently to get down upon the floor and engage in the child- 
ish play it was their natural right to enjoy. I have seen girls 
of ten whose belts were so closely clasped that a long, deep 
breath was an impossibility, and in the teens it is the exception 
and not the rule to find a girl who is not tightly laced. The 
old superstitions regarding propriety still shadow the lives of 
all our girls. Mothers expect their daughters to keep prim 
and neat and proper from babyhood up. Not one mother out 
of ten but views with horror the sight of her little maiden up 
in the apple-tree with her brother, and yet why has not the girl 
as much right to climb and run and romp as the boy? Are 
not health and strength and color and exercise as essential 
to her as they are to him? Why should she sew patch- 
work and play with dolls while he sails boats, climbs trees, 
plays ball, runs, jumps and engages in numberless active, 
out-of-door sports? Restricted as is the physical growth of the 
boys of the present by. the limitations put upon them by badly- 
ventilated school-rooms, undue study hours, lack of play- 
grounds, etc., the freer life which convention leaves the boy gives 
him numberless opportunities for development which his sister 
never has. In almost any family the boys are ruddier, healthier, 
more vigorous than the girls. In a large mixed school which 
I recently visited I could but note how much better were the 
complexions of the boys than those of the girls. 



24 Physical Cultw^e. 

The dress of the boy gives him great physical advantages. 
It enables him to exercise his limbs naturally, to breathe as 
nature meant her children should and to engage in exercise 
and play which develops muscle. What chance has a little 
girl in her immaculate and conventional attire to be natural? 
Even the tiny lassies have in these recent years been swathed 
in long gowns voted artistic by a fashion as ignorant of true 
art as it is of hygiene. Art appreciates the beauty of the 
human body and seeks by all means to quicken its develop- 
ment. 

If the physical needs of the little girls were more intelli- 
gently studied, the grown up maidens would suffer less from 
the ills due to want of physical vigor. How many women, 
for instance, endure years of suffering as the result of want of 
proper attention to the physical during one of the most impor- 
tant periods of girlhood. From the age of eleven to fifteen, 
everything that can tax either mind, body or nervous system 
should be kept from the girl's experience. During one or two 
years of this time all study should be suspended, and through - 
out this entire period there should be frequent intervals of 
rest. American girls compare unfavorably in point of health 
and physical development with European maidens because of 
the indifference shown to their physical organization at a time 
when it requires the greatest care. American mothers urge 



Physical Culture. 25 

the girl who is scholarly on in her intellectual pursuits and 
subject the one who is not to influences quite as disastrous to 
health as over-study. The result of such injudiciousness man- 
ifests itself in the faults of maturer life so freely criticised by 
foreigners. 

While American women are universally conceded to be the 
most beautiful, they are unsparingly criticised for their lack of 
grace and repose. The manners of a European woman betray 
at once her position, but no such criterion of social rank can 
be accepted in this country. Among the most cultivated 
classes there is an abruptness of motion, a vehemence in 
action which should never be witnessed outside the impulsive 
age of girlhood. In explanation of these differences which 
exist between the manners of the cultivated woman at home 
and in foreign countries the physical conditions would enter 
largely. At a time when the American girl is not only taxed 
mentally, but allowed- a liberty of action unknown in the 
life of girlhood outside her own land, the French girl is in her 
convent living a life void of all excitement, and the German 
fraulein is oftener than otherwise in the home where her 
education is carried on by means of lectures or private 
arrangements. In England the daughters are educated at 
home or in some school not unlike the French convent in its 
quiet. As a result of the absence of all excitement during 



26 Physical Culhire 

the formative period of her Hfe the European girl develops 
into healthy, vigorous womanhood, has no consciousness of 
nerves, is not neuralgic, does not go through life with a weak 
back, and is blissfully ignorant all her days of the evils which 
destroy the early bloom of her American cousin and shadow 
all her life. 

No years in all the life of woman are more important than 
those which mark the' transition from girlhood to woman- 
hood. If at this time the system is allowed to develop in 
accordance with nature's laws all the powers will be stronger 
in after years. If, on the contrary, no respect is paid to the 
feminine organization at this period years of diminished health 
and happiness will succeed. If mothers could be made to 
realize that better mental and physical work could be done by 
their daughters in consequence of the normal establishment of 
the functions peculiar to their sex, the American women of 
the future might revive the memories of the goddesses of 
olden time fabled for beauty, strength and intelligence. 

No marked changes in the health of our girls will be seen 
until a recognition of their physical needs is shown by the 
parents and educators. There should be no useless expendi- 
ture of nerve force at a time when nature requires the conser- 
vation of all the girl's energies. There should be no excite- 
ment of any kind calculated to withdraw force from the 



Physical Culture. 27 

physical organism. Let this period in a young woman's life 
be devoted to the study of physical culture, which means the 
refinement, as well as the development of physical powers. 
Enable her to so understand the possibilities of her complete 
being that she may grow in the grace of beauty as well as of 
strength. Teach her to make the body the expression of the 
soul. Let her study the arts and sciences concerning which 
young womanhood has been kept heretofore ignorant, the art 
of graceful motion, of musical tones, of conversational grace 
and fluency, the science of health, of physical beauty. 

How few women walk well, speak well, or converse well ! 
How few women have any idea of the intricacy of their own 
organism! Is it not time that a little space in a girl's life 
should be devoted to the consideration of interests quite as 
essential to her future well-being as a knowledge of trigonom- 
etry, or an acquaintance with Latin and French verbs? It 
is strange that parents who spend money and thought to 
make their daughters both useful and ornamental to society, 
should neglect the consideration of those influences which 
more than all else are requisite to harmonious development. 
How many girls are given the most complete classical 
education, and yet robbed of the physical strength necessary 
to make such education available ! How many young women 
have fortunes spent upon their singing voices and yet con- 



28 Physical Culture. 

verse in tones anything but musical! How many American 
maidens study season after season the secrets of graceful 
motion as portrayed in the Terpsichorean art, and yet enter 
a drawing-room with the awkward self-consciousness of 
a school-boy! 

It was Ralph Waldo Emerson who wrote: 

What boots it thv virtue, 

What profits thy parts, 
While one thing thou lackest — 

The art of all arts ? 

''The only credentials, 
Passport to success ; 
Opens castle and parlor — 
Address, man, address." 

And what the Concord sage called address is but the 
development and refinement of the entire physical person. 

I have heard persons object to the practice of graceful 
attitudes and exercises, declaring that they led to artificial 
airs and affectations, adding; farther that naturalness was 
the only thing which should be encouraged, thereby admitting 
to a mistaken conception of what constitutes genuine sim- 
plicity and naturalness of manner. As reasonably could one 
object to teaching a child delicate and refined eating habits, 
or the grammar of correct speech, or the science of logic 



Physical Ctitture. 29 

lest she should become self-conscious. Diametrically op- 
posed to this class are those persons who plan every move- 
ment and expression, and to whom study of the physical 
becomes interesting because it suggests the possibilities of a 
seductive art. To the minds of such physical culture is a 
synonym for sensuous and sometimes sensual development, 
and a means for attracting attention to the physical by 
methods as diligently practiced as the exercises for devel- 
opment of the body. ■ In every city where classes for physi- 
cal culture are formed, individuals with no ambitions superior 
to these present themselves for membership, and then appear 
in society to pose and make personal displays, without either 
charm or grace, for those who do not care to see in the 
parlor the vulgarities of the Variety theatre actress. 

A true system of physical culture never encourages the 
practice of any art which leads to affectation, boldness, or self- 
consciousness in any form ; it aims to make its students 
natural according to nature's purest ideals. Indeed the aim 
of a perfect system of physical culture is to take one out of 
one's self, out of the limitations which fetter the physical and 
mental faculties, lifting the intelligence above the control of 
material conditions into the sovereignty of mind over matter. 

While a graceful bearing and gracious manners are not 
picked up in a day nor assumed and thrown aside as occasion 



30 Physical Culture, 

may demand, they are as much the result of muscular freedom 
and training as they are of a gracious attitude of heart. And 
muscular freedom is of the greatest importance. While it is 
true that a kind heart is always the mainspring of kind and 
gracious manners, it is equally true that one may become 
so muscle-bound that the body will be incapable of expressing 
the soul with any degree of accuracy. Some of the kindest 
and most generous people in the world are positively irritating 
in their manners. Through a self-consciousness engendered 
of a lack of physical freedom, they constantly offend against 
the proprieties in social intercourse. 

The powers of the body require training as well as those of. 
the mind. The great truths of mind should be applied to 
matter, making body reveal the strength of the inner as 
well as outer man, physical expression more reliable than 
verbal. Form as well as face should reveal the cultivated 
soul, attitude more than speech express the woman of culture, 
bearing, not dress, betray the character. 

Let one who doubts the results of the present hot-house 
system of education visit some one of the female colleges, 
or fashionable seminaries, and note the appearance of the girls 
as they file into chapel at morning prayers. With narrowed 
chests, huddled shoulders, stooping forms, chins thrust for- 
ward, they pass by in unvarying procession, their complex- 



Physical CtUture. 31 

ions already showing the the dingy tint which Max O'Rell 
says characterizes the skin of American women. 

It is not because girls are incapable of mental labor that 
these physical manifestations of an overtaxed system are 
visible, but because of the indifference shown the needs of 
the delicate feminine organization which requires during the 
years of its development consideration of its every part. 

To set apart in the life of girlhood certain years for the 
development and culture of the physical would be to bless 
more than a sex. A hardier race of mothers would arise to 
direct the education of the coming generations — mothers, 
who having studied the physical in its relation to mental and 
moral conditions as well as to bodily health, would insist 
upon a wider culture in the future educational systems of the 
home, the school and the nation. 

Already a growing realization of the relation of the physical 
to mental and moral conditions is shown in the establishment 
of public gymnasia in some of our larger and more progres- 
sive cities. When the physical life becomes degenerate under 
bodily neglect, not only is the power of thought affected, but 
a shadow is thrown over the disposition. Want of activity of 
the muscles affects not only the heart but the organs of 
respiration and digestion as well. These have a reflex action 
upon the nervous system, and mental depression, irritability, 



32 Physical Ctilture, 

hypochondria and melanchoHa are the result. Many famous 
brain-workers had been temporarily insane through neglect 
of the physical through periods of continuous mental strain. 
Auguste Comte, the great French philosopher, as the result 
of prolonged brain labor carried on amidst irritating influ- 
ences, became so dangerously excitable and irritable that he 
had to be confined in a madhouse, and Tasso, Cov/per, 
Newton and Swift, all suffered from want of regularity in the 
physical regime. * 

It is ignorance or indifference regarding the laws of physi- 
cal being which causes most of the suffering experienced by 
humanity. Our prisons are crowded, our asylums are over- 
flowing, because the laws that govern life are disobeyed. 
Men and women, symmetrically developed, have no tempta^ 
tions to go astray such as beset from infancy those conceived 
and born in sin, for that which violates the physical law is as 
truly sin as non-conformity with moral law, and until this truth 
is recognized and taught, vice will continue and crime abound. 

Even in the middle classes of society there is surprising 
ignorance regarding the rights which every parent ought to 
intuitively recognize — the rights of the unborn child. 
Mothers refer, without a blush of shame, to physical evils 
which baby has inherited, and half-proudly allude to health 
improved in consequence of the ills transmitted to offspring. 



Physical Culture. ^^'^^ 

The work for the public teacher, for the philanthropist, is 
the awakening of a people to the religious duty of physical 
regeneration. To reclaim the vicious and morally weak, 
place them amidst surroundings in which a better nature 
can awaken. Let public charity interest itself more in the 
physical welfare of its objects, and the souls will lean, even as 
flowers do, toward the light. Sunday-schools and libraries 
avail little to the spiritual advancement of a people who 
live in sunless, crowded, ill-ventilated rooms, who breathe 
over and over again the poisonous air of badly-drained and 
badly-constructed buildings, and whose bodies are full of the 
impure blood of generations of lust and crime and disease. 
From such life what can come forth but impurity in all its 
forms? The need of the hour is not more money for ** sum- 
mer-schools for the children of the poor and lower classes," 
but more money for sanitary tenement houses, for public 
baths, pleasure-grounds, gymnasia — for the establishment of 
conditions under which a better race can be evolved. 

The bondage of the body is the bondage of the spirit. 
Virtue, grace and beauty are the hand-maidens of health, 
and as, according to the wise writers, there is nothing beau- 
tiful, but that is also good, the millennium of happiness for 
which the world waits will be ushered in when human beings 
live in harmony with divine law. 



II 

SYSTEMS OF GYMNASTICS. 

T AM constantly asked the questions, "Do you believe in 
heavy gymnastics?" and "Which of all the systems of 
physical culture do you consider best?" 

I believe in any movement or system of movements which 
have been carefully builded with a view to strengthening, 
developing and refining the entire physical being; and to 
engendering, as well as health, the freedom and power neces- 
sary to express the emotions of the soul. It matters not 
whether such movements are classified under the head of 
heavy or light gymnastics. 

A perfect system of exercise is that where energized action 
is supplemented by devitalizing movements. The energized 
action, for giving impetus to the blood, diffusing life and 
warmth; for developing the muscular system, by supplying it 
with increased nutriment in the increased current of blood; 
the devitalizing movements for relaxing the nervous system, 
giving grace of movement ^nd freedom of expression. 

Action and rest are laws in animal economy. It is essen- 
tial to perfect life that every part of the body be regularly 



Systems of Gymnastics. 35 

brought into action, for where there is continued inaction 
there will disease be found, and disease is a form of death. 
But it is essential, in the matter of exercise, to preser\^e the 
golden mean, for over-exertion, as well as thorough inaction, 
is disastrous. Unremitting exercise will exhaust the powers 
of animal nature, for waste is the result of motion ; and where 
violent action is too long sustained the loss is great, and the 
system becomes so exhausted that it is unable to supply the 
demand for new material as fast as it is needed. 

The price of life is motion. The Swedes, many years 
since, perceived this element of truth and established the 
movement-cure. Discovering that disease was the result of 
inaction they conceived the idea that motion was needed to 
infuse life into the patient. The movement-cure had its birth 
in philosophy and common sense, and it has been most happy 
in its results. 

Motorpathy is successfully used in the treatment of infantile 
paralysis. The treatment consists of iitassagc-ri\o\&ci\&iV\.^ and 
Swedish exercise, and as soon as the patient begins to regain 
control over the muscles, light gymnastics are brought into 
requisition. If exercises which are so light and simple that a 
child can acquire them with facility will restore life and activ- 
ity to partially paralyzed parts, is it not reasonable to suppose 
that a systematic course of light gymnastics which exercises 
every muscle in the body will have the desired effect in 



36 Systems of Gymnastics. 

upbuildment and development where the muscles have not 
lost their power to contract and expand? 

Any person able to be about can take movements without 
apparatus, and such movements by cultivating a free use of 
the agents, tend to establish habits of grace. 

The system of exercise set forth in this book consists of 
light movements based upon physiological and aesthetic law, 
and employs both energizing and devitalizing movements, pro- 
ductive of grace and repose of manner as well as activity. I 
have proven by experience that this system embodies the 
elements of strength, development and grace. But I also 
recognize the benefits to be derived from heavy gymnastics 
where one is strong enough to take them. Such work should, 
however, be taken under the direction and instruction of per- 
sons who base their teachings upon the natural relation of 
cause and effect, who give physiological reasons for every 
movement they make. 

Rational physical culture admits of swinging dumb-bells 
and clubs, executing movements with wands and rings, and 
all the exercises of a well-appointed gymnasium, as well as 
light, free movements. The one point to be kept constantly 
in mind is that energized action should not be used to the 
exclusion of devitalizing movements ; that rollicking, exciting 
action must be supplemented by reposeful movements, or the 
result will be muscle at the expense of grace and expression, 



Systems of Gymnastics. 2>7 

and we shall have muscular development at the cost of nerve 
force, for there must be regular, systematic relaxation of the 
nervous system if one would keep strong. 

There is wonderful power in graceful motion, which need 
not and should not be sacrificed. Cicero tells us that Roscius 
gained great love from every one by the mere movements of 
his person ; and Bacon declares that " In beauty, that of decent 
and gracious motion is more than that of favor," showing the 
sway that graceful motion has held throughout the ages. 
Occasionally a person has talent for grace, as others have for 
music, painting, or sculpture; but all can cultivate it to 
marked degree. A graceful mien places a person en rapport 
with any company, and he who neglects physical refinement 
does not live up to his highest privileges, for he closes an 
avenue of good. 

To so exercise the body as to produce unity of movement, 
and hence grace in physical expression, is the object of all 
physical practice which aims at culture as well as develop- 
ment. Any system of gymnastics which consists merely of 
the practice of certain mechanical movements defeats the aim 
at which all physical exercise should direct its efforts. To 
hold certain attitudes and contract one set of muscles w^hile 
others are held rigid will produce development, but it will be 
inharmonious, and such practice but confirms habits of 
awkwardness, and cultivates that rigidity of movement so 



2,8 Systems of Gyrmiastics. 

foreign to grace and beauty. To Have the body symmetrically 
and harmoniously developed those muscles which have an 
affinity for each other should be allowed to work, together, 
and exercises should follow each other in such order as will 
result in symmetrically rounded figures. Such practice is 
as conducive to health as it is to grace. To work for the 
possession of mere muscular development or force is to gain 
a power which may be lost as soon as acquired. Muscles 
which stand out all over the body like whip cords are often as 
unallied to health as they are to beauty. 

With the Greeks, those unrivalled models of physical 
perfection, the body was so exercised as to develop naturally. 
Exercises were taken which brought all the powers into 
requisition either through sympathy or positive action. Long 
practice is required to bring all the muscles into harmonious 
subjection to the will, but the result justifies the labor. There 
must be, moreover, concentration of all the energies, not in a 
way that taxes either mind or body, but in that whole-heart- 
edness of effort which stimulates and invigorates all the 
powers, even as a child's entire being is quickened by the 
play into which he enters with all his self-hood. 

It is through development and culture of all the powers of 
the body that the faculties of the material form become so 
disciplined that every emotion of the soul, every suggestion of 
the reason finds harmonious expression. 



Systems of Gymnastics, 39 

The exclusive use of heavy apparatus as a means of 
physical exercise is to be condemned, because of its want 
of consideration for the more subtle needs of the system. 
The work may, indeed, develop the muscular system, and 
give health of body, but it does not have the desired result in 
grace of form or of movement. Then, too, in the practice of 
systems dependent upon apparatus there is danger to the 
health of the pupil unless the exercises be taken under the 
direction of a careful teacher. The development brought 
about by heavy gymnastics is, moreover, incompatible with 
grace, for they tend to harden the muscles and keep them 
rigid even when in repose, while light movements make them 
soft and pliable and thus leave them in a lithe, supple state 
for motion. 

I have seen young women who performed gracefully upon 
rings, bars, etc., yet became most awkward specimens the 
moment the appliances were removed, their arms, legs and 
other members symbols of awkwardness from the self- 
consciousness of their owners, who were at ease only when 
they had something upon which to expend nervous energy. 
As it is impossible to go through life suspended, however 
gracefully, from bars, or attached to apparatus, we should 
practice exercises which will not only develop, but refine the 
muscles. 

There is no law relative to the height or rise of a perfect 



40 Systems of Gy7nnastics. 

figure, for a Lilliputian may be as beautiful in his way as a 
Brobdynagian and the opposite so long as the law of har- 
monious development be sustained. A perfect figure does not 
attract so much attention to its size as to the relation of its 
parts. The Venus of Milo is a very big woman indeed, but 
we lose sight of her size in admiring her proportions. A 
thoroughly developed figure does not at first sight appear to 
be muscular, for there are no knotted, piled-up muscles on 
arms, legs or other members to attract the eye. A perfectly 
healthy, well-developed body is characterized by plumpness — 
is neither stout nor thin, and where there is excess or paucity 
of adipose tissue, by bringing the body into a healthy condi- 
tion we bring it into manageable and pleasing proportions. 

There is a class of persons demanding special personal 
attention — a class whose physical natures are not well 
balanced, where some one organ or part is weak and liable to 
disease, and while light systematic exercises are calculated to 
help these personal weaknesses or defective organizations by 
improving the general health, such persons should carefully 
consider their special needs and give much time and attention 
to such exercises as are especially adapted to improve these 
particular parts. 

The question is asked "What relation do gymnastics bear 
to out-of-door sports?" They are auxiliaries, but not sub- 
stitutes. A perfect system of gymnastics exercises every 



Syste7ns of Gymnastics. 41 

muscle in the body, while walking, running, rowing, ball- 
playing, tennis and all out-of-door athletics, call into play 
certain sets of muscles. The former give harmony in action 
and strength throughout every part of the body, while the 
latter increase the strength and size of certain parts. It does 
not follow from this, however, that one may eschew all 
forms of athletic sport and out-of-door exercise, and find in 
any gymnastic system as at present arranged, full compen- 
sation for such surrender. All physical exercise in the open 
air is attended with a sense of exhilaration, and a stimulus to 
the entire being, of whose value no one should remain 
ignorant, but such exercise must be supplemented by intel- 
ligent study of one's physical needs, or undue practice in 
certain athletics may result in diminished physical power or 
organic trouble. 

The ever-growing interest in the subject of physical cul- 
ture will result, in the near future, in more intelligent consid- 
eration of all influences that affect physical being than has 
heretofore been accorded them. With a more thorough 
knowledge of the laws that determine human health and 
happiness, there will be more general recognition of nature's 
methods for the physical perfection of her children, and the 
wonderful mechanism of the human body will be too thor- 
oughly appreciated for any one of its parts to be either 
neglected or over-trained. 



42 Systems of Gymnastics. 

* 
The Greeks, who have been the world's best teachers in 

the science of physical culture, made all forms of exercise 

subject to one underlying and all-governing principle- — the 

perfection of the entire being, and it is with aims equally 

worthy that the directors of modern students of the physical 

must enthuse their pupils. 



III. 



HORSE-BACK RIDING, ROWING, SWIMMING, 
FENCING AND DANCING. 

TT has been said that a history of equestrianism would be a 
history of mankind, but it is in comparatively modern 
times that records of riding for pleasure are found. In 
America an interest in this most healthful as well as delight- 
ful form of exercise, is of very recent date, and it is among 
the cow-boys of the western plains, rather than among 
gentlemen of leisure and wealth, that the knight of the 
saddle is, as a rule, found. In England the benefits and 
delights of horse-back riding have long been appreciated by 
both sexes, and as trans-Atlantic travel is made more easy, 
and the pursuits and pleasures of foreign countries are more 
closely studied and generally known, the interest in eques- 
trianism deepens with our people. In most of our large cities 
clubs, composed of gentlemen devoted to the practice of this 
healthful art, have already sprung up, while it is conceded 
in most fashionable society that ability to ride well must be 
one of the modern belle's accomplishments. To ride well 
requires much practice, but the fascinations of the exercise 



44 Horse-back Riding, Rowing, 

increase desire for its enjoyment, and a pretty woman is 
stimulated in her ambition to manage her horse skillfully, as 
well as to sit upon him with grace, by the consciousness that 
nowhere will her charms be so apparent as in the character of 
an equestrienne. Indeed, it often happens that a woman of 
truly regal appearance when well seated on a horse is a most 
ordinary-looking personage on terra-firma, and hence the 
pleasures of equestrianism have allurements for women of 
varied style. Physicians are unanimous in the opinion that 
no exercise is more beneficial for persons having no organic 
disease which prohibits its practice. After a five minutes' 
ride on a trotter the blood mounts to the cheeks, the eyes 
sparkle, and the whole body becomes instinct with life. 
Nothing is more efficacious in breaking up a cold than a 
brisk ride. Horse-back riding has been called a passive 
exercise, but I know of no exercise which calls so many 
muscles into play as riding on a trotter. In riding any other 
gait the body remains passive, and is merely shaken up, while 
this mode brings the muscles into such active service that 
the circulation of the blood is accelerated until the whole 
body fairly glows. While it is true that no other gait is as 
exhilerating, it is also true that no other is so well adapted 
to general riding, as this is the only method which can be 
practiced with perfect safety on all kinds of roads, inasmuch 
as the pressure of the foot against the stirrup lifts the body, 



Swifmning, Fencing and Dancing. 45 

and breaks the force of the jar. I do not hesitate to say'that 
when one has become an expert rider no other mode will 
ever find favor with her. The resistance of the foot against 
the stirrup is the first point to be gained in learning to ride 
(when I speak of learning to ride I refer to riding a trotter, 
for there is nothing to learn in riding any other gait except 
control of one's horse, as the body remains passively seated 
in the saddle), and one's first efforts will be rather discour- 
aging. Even one who prides herself upon the strength 
of her muscles and athletic skill will find that she has not 
the necessary control over the muscles used in riding. The 
strengthening of the muscles can be accomplished as well 
by practice on a chair as in a saddle, and such exercise will 
be attended by far less danger. 

As riding is too expensive a pastime to be indulged in by 
all, I am going to give directions for an exercise, which, 
besides being of value to those wishing to learn to ride, will 
also be a benefit to those who never expect to mount a horse, 
as it will improve circulation and develop the muscles of the 
leg and abdomen. To insure even development this move- 
ment should be practiced equally on either side, using first 
the left and then the right foot as the lever. 

Sit sidewise upon a chair, with the left foot flat upon the 
floor, and the right knee bent ; lay the right leg upon the 
chair in the same manner in which it is placed over the pom- 



46 Horse-back Riding, Rowing, 

mel when sitting in the saddle, the right hand will doubtless 
have to be used at first to assist the foot in raising the body, 
but as soon as the muscles strengthen, the arm should be 
allowed to hang passively at the side. Bear the weight 
upon the left foot, bend the body slightly forward, and raise 
it until it is lifted off the chair ten or twelve inches. Next 
stop the resistance of the foot and allow the body to settle 
back into the sitting position. Do this ten times in quick 
succession. After a time one will be able to take the exercise 
for several minutes. 

For those daughters of wealth who do not regard them- 
selves strong enough to endure the practice of horseback 
riding, save in the mildest weather, mechanical horses are 
often constructed at prices equal to thos€ asked for genuine 
quadrupeds, but of more portable size. The object of their 
use is precisely the one for which the chair practice is given, 
and the results are as beneficial in the one case as in the 
other. 

To receive the full benefits of horseback riding, both sides 
of the body should be exercised, instead of only one side as 
in the present feminine mode of ridmg. One of the best 
physicians in this country, a man who has made a specialty 
of spine and hip diseases, says that the fashionable way of 
riding is a prolific cause of deformed spines. The woman's 
position on the horse with one leg hanging parallel with the 



Swimming, Fencing and Dmicing. 47 

horse, and the other on a level with his neck, is unnatural. 
One side of the body becomes completely numbed, if the 
position is long held, and there is a continued strain upon 
the muscles of the back, which few women, or men either, 
could long endure. 

It is noticed that girls accustomed to ride from childhood, 
grow crooked, and wise parents have insisted that their 
daughters should use only side-saddles made with two pom- 
mels, and alike on both sides, so that the rider may change 
from one side to the other, and thus counteract the tendency 
to unsymmetrical growth; and yet, with this style of saddle 
sensitive spines become weakened. It is asserted that " cus- 
tom assigns the side-saddle to women because it is suited to 
the physique of the majority," but this assertion is confuted 
by the women who have had most experience in the saddle. 
It is not supposed that the heavy, clumsy saddle used by 
men would ever be the one in favor with women, but that 
it is possible to construct a saddle at once hygienic and 
comfortable, no woman who has considered the question 
for a moment doubts. 

In the time of George II, a movable crutch for riding on 
the right or left side of the horse was introduced, and the 
Duchess of Gordon is said to have used it. That a question 
arose, even in those days, as to the physiological effects of 
riding always upon one side would seem suggested from this 



48 Horse-back Riding, Rowing, 

invention. It is within recent years, however, and since 
woman's interest in athletic sport and physical culture has 
developed, that serious consideration has been given to the 
hygienic results of the conventional way in which women 
ride. As women begin to share the broader life of man, to 
become familiar with wider interests than have heretofore 
been theirs, to develop a love of study and a love of travel, 
they begin to inquire, as never before, into all conditions that 
may effect physical well-being. Any form of exercise which 
produces a one-sided development is considered unhealthy 
and undesirable, though all the traditions of history may re- 
gard its overthrow as unfeminine. With the women of the 
present ambition does not reach its highest form in desire to 
do as women always have done regardless of the laws of 
health. They are no longer willing that men shall have a 
monopoly of comfort, health and strength, and they no longer 
hesitate over the propriety of their desire to enjoy the fullest 
freedom in physical exercise. If experience proved that 
riding astride was the heathful way for a woman to ride, 
women would ride that way, not one, two, a half-dozen, 
but all women, and as fashion erects our ideals of modesty no 
one would be surprised at what was recognized as proper 
by the arbiters of decorum. 

For women who ride occasionally the objections of the 
present system are not formidable, but for those who are often 



Swimming, Fencing and Dancing, 49 

in the saddle its evils are manifold. Let such, until a saddle 
has been invented which shall recognize the needs of women, 
use only one which shall allow the rider to sit on either side 
and to develop symmetrically the body. To aid in this 
development a habit which allows all possible freedom to the 
wearer should be adopted. Reason and common sense de- 
mand that this costume should be bifurcated and all parts of 
the skirt made of equal length to prevent the possibility of 
serious injury which the present habit makes almost unavoid- 
able in case of accident. 

With growing girls there is serious reason why those who 
ride much should sit squarely upon the horse. While the 
body is in the plastic period of youth it may be more easily 
deformed than in maturer years, and as a girl finds the boy's 
saddle quite as comfortable as her own, and with none of the 
evils of the latter, there is no reason why any sensible mother 
should object to its use, and there is every argument .why it 
should meet with her approval. The boy's way of riding 
is the safer, the healthier, and the more natural way, and 
no wise parent should allow her young daughter's health 
and happiness to be sacrificed to mistaken ideas of propriety. 
To ride on one side at an age when the body is sensitive 
to every influence, is to grow one-sided, to weaken the spine, 
and to lay the foundation for innumerable feminine weak- 
nesses. Seated astride her pony the young girl can alone 



50 Horse-back Riding, Rowing, 

receive the full benefits of riding. In this way both she and 
the horse are free. He travels more evenly, and she, unfet- 
tered by the conventional riding habit, can jump from her 
horse at the slightest intimation of danger, and it is quite 
as proper to wear a kilted divided skirt on a pony as it is 
on a bicycle, and no sensible girl or woman rides the latter 
without one. 

Horse-back riding, hygienically practiced, is one of the 
most healthful of exercises for women. It expands the 
chest, quickens the circulation and infuses new life into the 
entire being. Any form of exercise which gives to women 
out-of-door life is to be commended, and while, as has been 
previously explained, the muscular system may be strength- 
ened by the mere form of riding, it is the exercise which 
fills the lungs with pure, fresh air, and sends the blood, 
tingling with new life, through every vein, which is most 
beneficial. For this reason rowing is an exercise which 
should be more generally practiced by young women. Its 
effects upon the muscular system can be secured by certain 
mechanical movements, but to learn its full value it must be 
deprived of none of its legitimate associations. • Nothing 
improves the complexion more than daily practice at row- 
ing. If the exercise is vigorous, the circulation is greatly 
quickened, and the system, through profuse perspiration, 
enabled to free itself from all poisonous matter. Especially 



Swimming, Fencing and Dancing. 51 

is the exercise beneficial to those affected with torpid livers. 
No college captain of a boat's crew was ever known to be 
bilious. 

Rowing strengthens, moreover, the respirator)^ organs 
and so leads to expansion of the chest. It is excellent, too, 
for strengthening weak backs and admirably calculated to 
develop the upper arm and shoulder. It gives firmness 
and strength to the wrist without developing it abnormally, 
and need not make the hands larger, though it may increase 
their muscular power. No exercise is more beneficial, if 
practiced judiciously, upon the diaphragmatic muscles; it 
can be made a certain cure for weak stomachs. In its 
early practice, however, one must rest often, and ne\'er 
work to the point of fatigue. 

Another pastime, closely allied to rowing in its prac- 
tice and results, is that of swimming. From the begin- 
ning of human history it has been regarded as a manly 
accomplishment, but tabooed for woman on the same grounds 
that most hygienic pleasures have been denied her. In this 
new era of physical culture it ranks among the requirements 
of the well-educated young woman. Like rowing it must 
be enjoyed with all the exhilarations of out-of-door life as 
its acccessories to realize in full its pleasures and benefits. 
The fashionable swimming bath gives the exercise it is true, 
but a plunge in the billows made by old Neptune is worth 



52 Horse-back Riding, Rowing, 

a whole course of encounters with artificial waves. I do not, 
remember, decry the swimming bath of the gymnasium 
or the school. Its exercise is admirable, only whenever 
possible I advocate the widest enjoyment of all forms of 
physical exercise. Some of the motions of the arms in 
swimming are most commendable forms of exercise taken 
apart from all their accompanying movements and elements. 
They are excellent for broadening the chest and for flatten- 
ing the shoulder-blades, but the simultaneous movement of 
arms and legs taken in the actual performance of swim- 
ming increases the beneficial results of both. Swimming 
is, withal, an exercise whose value may be tested in ways 
beyond any given, and it behooves every young woman in 
these days of travel and adventure to educate all her 
powers to the point of preparation for any emergency. 
No well-equipped gymnasium or school of physical culture 
should neglect the exercise of swimming, for its value to 
health and physical development, as well as its possible im- 
portance to life itself, entitle it to the consideration of all 
teachers and students of the laws of physical being. 

Another most healthful and desirable form of exercise, 
new to women, but known to men of many ages, is fencing. 
It is an art less easily acquired than either of the others 
named, but its practice is quite as beneficial. Indeed no 
exercise tends more immediately to act upon and strengthen 



Swimining, Fencing and Dancing. 53 

the muscles, and no exercise better tests the strength of the 
muscular system. Some of its attitudes are to one whose 
muscles have received no training, so fatiguing as to be at 
first discouraging, and hence it is more desirable that it 
should form a part in a course of physical instruction, than 
that it should be4aken up as a sole means of physical devel- 
opment. It is an exercise without rival for developing and 
fortifying the chest, and one of the best exercises for devel- 
oping the muscles of the upper leg and back. In the quick 
variety of its movements its tendency is toward the cultiva- 
tion of grace as well as of strength, while the demand for 
mental alertness results in most desirable and beneficial co- 
operation of mind and body. It calls constantly for erect, 
well-poised chests, and in its multiplicity of motions is found 
a positive remedy for rounded backs and huddled shoulders. 
An analysis of the movements taken in the " Grand 
Salute," shows how universal are its effects upon the muscular 
system. The muscles of the back, thigh, leg, abdomen, 
diaphragm, neck, arm and wrist, are all, at some period of 
the practice, called into action. The whole body is in a 
glow after fiv^e minutes of exercise, and rosy cheeks and 
sparkling eyes bespeak the revivification of the entire sys- 
tem. Young women are found ready to confess that they 
study fencing to beautify their complexions and to attain 
well-rounded figures, but women past the age of youth 



54 Horse-back Riding, Rowing, 

have found the exercise wonderfully beneficial in restoring 
the charms of early life. No woman is ever too old to study 
the science of health, and it is a much more profitable pur- 
suit, from the physiological standpoint, than that of medi- 
cine, which rarely repairs wasted tissues, or tones up flabby 
muscles. 

Women lose the physical grace and vigor which they 
possess in early life oftener from neglect of physical exercise 
than from any other cause. Years need not make the 
form gross, misshapen and ugly, if natures laws for its 

preservation are observed. If the muscles are kept firm and 

* 
healthy the protruding abdomen and ungraceful outlines 

so characteristic of mature womanhood would never appear. 

There is no reason why the attainment of a certain age 

should mean that the period of wrinkles, of pains, of 

desuetude of all the powers has been reached. Because 

one is no longer in the twenties it does not follow that she 

should no longer enjoy the pleasures which gave delight to 

those years. 

The most graceful woman I saw dancing at a fashionable 

summer resort last season had passed beyond the thirties, 

but the years of maturity had only given to her figure a 

stateliness of motion which made her admired of all who 

saw her walk or dance. Those wonderful beauties of early 

history, with whom one never associates a thought of age, 



Swimmings Fencing mid Dancing. 55 

because they never seem to grow old, kept themselves young 
by the continuance of those practices which had given to 
the years of youth, grace and strength; and dancing, that 
most delightful of all Exercises, was as faithfully practiced 
as were the religious duties of the day. In these latter 
years it has come to be regarded as too frivolous a pursuit 
for mature minds and bodies to enjoy, but upon this ques- 
tion as upon many other points, popular thought requires 
revision. 

With the Greeks dancing was regarded as a means not 
only of making the form redundant in grace and beauty, but 
of keeping it so. Statesmen and philosophers, maidens 
and matrons all participated in the national dances. The 
nation's leaders were distinguished dancers, and Socrates is 
even said to have learned the art of dancing in his old age. 
It is as worthy of universal favor now as it was in the days 
of Athenian greatness. Like many other pleasures it may 
be conducted under circumstances alike detrimental to health 
and morals, but in and, of itself it is the most innocent and 
delightful as well as healthful of pastimes, and its practice 
should form a part of every one's physical education. Its 
effects upon the growing form of childhood are immediate, 
and many physicians assert that to its intelligent, well- 
directed practice marked improvements in health may be 
directly traced. 



56 Horse-back Riding, Rowing, 

In the complicated practice of many dances, the variety 
of movements taken is admirably calculated to give the 
human body elasticity and expression as well as grace and 
strength. In the practice of the minuet, a firm, erect and 
well-poised carriage of the body is secured. Its stately 
attitudes cultivate grace and freedom in motion and tend 
to correct such physical defects as depressed chests and 
rounded backs. In its exercise are unrivalled opportunities 
for overcoming an awkward gait, for the successful perfor- 
mance of its every movement demands that one shall not 
only take heed unto her steps, but that the entire body shall 
be full of regal grace. The chest must be active, the head 
well-poised, the whole figure free, yet full of dignity. 

In the practice of the Spanish dances freedom of the 
entire muscular system is secured. The angularities of the 
body are rendered less conspicuous in the constant practice 
of movements which call for the sympathetic action of every 
part of the human form. No dance more readily frees the 
body from stiffness and rigidity of movement than the one 
known as the Tarantula. It is a study of the laws of phy- 
sical grace. 

The Russian dance is a lesson in the poetry of motion. 
The Swedish teaches the body the rhythm of movement, and 
some of the dances descended from the Greeks are marvels of 
graceful motion. 



Swiynming, Fencing and Dancing. 57 

Other dances tend directly to physical development. Cer- 
tain movements of the ballet are especially calculated to de- 
velop and strengthen the muscles. Some of the exercises are 
the best known for developing the calves of the legs, and 
others are most strengthening to the muscles of the back and 
abdomen. 

The Highland Fling abounds in movements alike con- 
ducive to grace and strength, and the fashionable dances of 
the day are, intelligently practiced, most commendable forms 
of exercise. 

Why should not young women in society with a talent 
for grace allow it opportunity for development by studying 
certain graceful dances as those with a talent for music 
pursue its practice? It would be most interesting to have 
the endless army of violin and piano players, who at 
present march through society's halls, varied by the appear- 
ance of a young woman who could delight the eye as well 
as give inspiration to art, by suggesting in some expressive 
dance the poetry of motion, the beauty of grace and the 
divinity of form as revealed by culture of the human body. 

The evil effects of dancing are due not to the act itself, 
but to its practice under improper conditions. Late hours, 
badly ventilated rooms and unhealthful dress are too often 
associations of an art, in itself as innocent as any men- 
tioned in this chapter. 



58 Horse-back Riding, Rowing, etc. 

Correctly practised as it was in the golden days of Greece, 
with pure air, hygienic costumes, and uncrowded space for its 
accessories, dancing is as worthy the respect of the wise and 
the pure now as it was in the times of the Greek immortals, 
as capable of giving divinity to the human form, and of 
making it an object of beauty and reverence as it was in the 
early days of art, when the qualities which inspired the hand 
and brain of genius were expressed through the perfection of 
the physical. 



IV. 



HYGIENE OF THE SKIN AND TREATMENT OF 
THE COMPLEXION. 

T N all ages of the world's history physical beauty has com- 
mended itself to the beholder. Types of beauty have 
differed, it is true, with different nations, but the perfection of 
the physical as it has been understood in various countries, 
has had a charm among all races and in all periods. Rules 
for the preservation of beauty were given by the priests of an- 
cient time, and a beautiful body was regarded as indicative of 
a beautiful soul. So great was the desire among the early 
people of history to keep the body and the skin full of the 
freshness and bloom of youth, that prayers were offered unto 
the gods asking for divine directions regarding the culture of 
beauty, and in answer to these petitions came, it was believed, 
the introduction of cosmetics among the children of men. To 
keep away the signs of decay from the human body was evi- 
dence of divine favor, and all the skill of early science was 
directed to the discovery of an elixir which should keep the 
skin always firm, the eye ever bright, and the body ever 
active. 



6o Hygiene of the Skin and 

In the land of Helen as much attention was given to the 
care of the skin and the cultivation of facial beauty as was be- 
stowed upon the development of the body, and unguents were, 
the historian tells us, used to make the skin soft, fair and 
lustrous, the secret of their use having been first taught the 
daughters of earth by Venus, it was claimed. 

No details of facial loveliness escaped the Roman woman's 
attention, and from the matrons of ancient Rome, have de- 
scended to the present daughters of Italy some of the arts 
whereby they enhance their personal beauty. > 

Not by means of external application to the face has beauty 
been gained in any age or country, but by care and culture of 
the entire body. In Rome, as in Sparta and Athens, the 
women realized that the perfection of the whole was neces- 
sary to the possession of even a tithe of the famous Helen's 
beauty. In those countries where women depended for 
comeliness upon the use of paints the "rending" of the face 
was, to quote Jeremiah's description of face-painting, the 
result. But women, ignorant of nature's laws, have resorted 
down the centuries to artificial means for procuring that 
beauty which they believed had been withheld from them by 
the gods, or destiny, or some influence which they felt them- 
selves incapable of combatting without the aid of art. And 
yet it is true that the beauty immortalized by the art and 
poetry of all time was less a gift of the gods than of health. 



Treatment of the Complexion. 61 

perfect, abundant health. All healthy women are not, it is 
true, beautiful, but health has been the source of most of the 
beauty the world has reverenced. 

If the labor employed and the expense incurred by the 
women of to-day, in securing art's devices for the improvement 
of the personal appearance, were directed to the study of the 
natural laws by which beauty is evolved, more lasting and 
satisfactory results would be obtained. It is useless to apply 
treatment to the face and ignore other parts of the body. No 
cosmetic ever known could beautify a skin deadened through 
want of action of the vital functions of the system. Powder 
can be so artfully applied as to partially cover the blemishes 
made by impure blood, and paint can supply the color which 
is absent from want of healthy, active circulation, but their 
use clogs the pores of the skin and hastens the coming of 
wrinkles and lines which are the most fatal foes to beauty. 

It is a great mistake to believe that the use of certain 
unguents on the face, while the rest of the system is clogged 
with , effete, poisonous matter, can make the complexion 
healthy. A knowledge of the causes which produce bad 
complexions and faces covered with pimples, blotches, black- 
heads, etc., would result in a radical change from the present 
treatment given the skins of most women. 

Physicians who devote themselves to the study of the skin 
inquire first of all concerning the personal habits of their 



62 Hygiene of the Skin and 

patients. " How often do you bathe ? what physical exercise 
do you take ? how much are you out-of-doors ? what causes 
have you, if any, for mental worriment? are some of the 
queries propounded to the woman wise enough to seek 
scientific advice regarding means of personal improvement. 
The intelligent student of nature knows that there is some 
physiological reason why a woman has premature wrinkles or 
an ugly skin, and his first object is to discover what it is. 

Often a woman considers her weekly Saturday night bath 
all sufficient for purposes of cleanliness, and yet spends whole 
hours every week trying to free her face from black-heads and 
pimples. Yet no necessity of the human body is greater than 
that of calling action to the surface by external application 
of some sort. Too often the skin is regarded merely as a 
covering for the body instead of one of its most important 
organs for purification of the system. There are seven million 
pores in the body, and through these mouths the bad matter 
of the system exudes when they are kept in a healthy, 
natural condition, but if they, instead of being permitted to 
perform their legitimate work, are allowed day after day to 
retain the poisonous matter which they absorb from the 
clothing and the atmosphere they become clogged, and the 
system retains the secretions they were intended to throw off. 

Many women have noticed that during the summer months, 
when they are much out-of-doors, their health is not only 



Treatment of the Complexion. 63 

improved, but their complexion as well, the reason being 
that the exercise in the open air quickens the circulation of 
the blood, and enables the skin through profuse perspiration 
to get rid of much that is poisonous. Nothing niars the skin 
and covers it with such brown patches, and gives it such 
sallow tints as diseases of the liver, but people who lead active 
lives rarely have "Liver complaint." Its victims are, as a 
rule, persons of sedentary habits, who exercise but little 
either in-doors or out, although it may be caused by unhy- 
gienic clothing or mental worriment. The Autocrat of the 
breakfast-table tells of a young wife whose skin grief turned 
of a deep, orange color, and so sensitive is the liver to all 
conditions of both mind and body that it is not to be won- 
dered at that the ancients believed it to be the seat of the 
soul. But whatever the physical or mental cause of that 
unhealthy appearance of the skin which indicates a diseased 
condition of the liver, it can be removed by a proper physical 
regime. A judicious course of baths, regular habits of phy- 
sical exercise, walks in the open air and a dress which 
allows freedom to the muscles of the waist will soon trans- 
form the muddy, yellow complexion of disease to the 
glowing beauty of health. 

It is said of Hippocrates, the father of medicine, that he 
knew a man's disease by the look of the face alone, and it is 
true that the face is as indicative of bodily conditions to the 



64 Hygiene of the Skin and 

physiologist as it is of mental and moral being to the 
physiognomist. 

Excessive floridity of the complexion is often caused by 
indigestion, .premature wrinkles are not infrequently the result 
of want of nutritious food, and eruptions upon the face and 
body may be produced by injudicious eating habits, inactive 
circulation will also cause discolorations of the skin, and in 
consequence the corset as worn by most women is a fatal foe 
to beauty. Disorders of the skin are frequently traceable 
to diseased nervous systems. In order to possess a healthy 
skin, and a clear, beautiful complexion, the rules of hy- 
giene must be rigidly observed. Daily friction of the skin 
of the entire body is one of the most important of these. 
A daily use of the warm bath is not to be commended, 
although its judicious use is most beneficial if followed by 
a vigorous rubbing of the entire surface of the body. 
A bag of bran placed in the water will make the skin 
most agreeably soft and clear, and a most delightful bath 
may be had by adding rose-water in sufficient quantity to 
produce a milky appearance in the water. For the skin 
which requires a tonic in the form of a bath, alcohol is 
recommended by many physicians. It should be added to 
the bath, in the proportion of half a pint to six quarts of 
water. It is well after any warm or hot bath to spray the 
body with cold water, as this affects favorably the tissues 



Treatment of the Complexion, 65 

of the skin and makes the rubbing which should follow 
every bath a most stimulating process. While twice a 
week may be sufficient for the warm bath, friction 
should be applied to the body every day. I have known 
wonderful changes to be wrought in the health and com- 
plexion by the use of small wooden paddles (or muscle 
beaters) vigorously applied to every part except the head. 
They are found most useful in cases where superficial rather 
than deep parts are to be affected. Their energetic use pro- 
duces a most delightful and healthy glow of the entire skin, 
and while the yare not used on the face it responds sympa- 
thetically to the stimulus given the body. 

The use of hair mittens or rough gloves will also enable the 
skin to receive the benefits of full, free circulation, benefits re- 
ported in the improved appearance of the complexion as well 
as in a healthier state of the entire body. When vigorous 
circulation is enjoyed the pores cannot become clogged, and 
the poisonous matter of the system passes off as nature meant 
it should, and impurities of the blood are neither visible in the 
face or elsewhere. Mrs. Custer tells in ** Boots and Saddles," 
of an old army officer who kept himself always healthy by 
making a coarse, rough towel the only essential to his toilet ; 
he did not care for water so long as he could free his sys- 
tem from all internal and external impurities by daily vig- 
orous rubbing. 



66 Hygiene of the Skin and 

To keep the skin- healthy, it is, moreover, important that 
the body should be given daily an air bath. This should be 
taken while exercising in a well ventilated room with every 
part of the body exposed to light and air. 

Cold-water baths are beneficial for those strong enough to 
bear them, but they are calculated to invigorate the body 
rather than to cleanse it. Their healthful action can be 
increased by the addition of ammonia, which is most strength- 
ening when not added to the bath in over-quantities. As the 
body is strengthened by the absorption of water all forms 
of bathing are commendable which do not over-tax the 
system. In the chapter on baths the effects of different 
kinds of bathing will be more fully considered, and each 
one knowing the needs of her own system can determine 
what form of bath will be most beneficial. 

Regarding the influence of food upon the complexion whole 
volumes might be written. Anything which causes indiges- 
tion will make the skin torpid, mar the complexion with ugly 
spots and produce wrinkles. It is true, however, that "what 
is one man's meat is another man's poison," and hence in the 
regulation of the diet individual judgment must be exercised. 
Many physicians declare that oat-meal, so long considered a 
staple article of food, is unhealthy and should be eschewed by 
all who desire clear skins. It is said to be over-heating in its 
influence and the cause oftentimes of pimples upon the face 



Ti^eatment of the Complexio7i. 67 

and other parts of the body. There are articles of food, 
however, about the effect of which there can be no difference 
of opinion. The indigestible pastries, rich gravies, innu- 
merable sweets and the stimulating drinks regarded as 
essential to the enjoyment of eating are the prolific cause of 
disease in many forms. 

To possess as well as retain beauty one must pay the price 
of vigilance, sacrifice and self-control. Many women, for the 
space of a few years, attract by virtue of bright coloring, 
laughing dimples, and a gracefully rounded, supple figure, and 
then, through lack of care necessary to the preservation of 
these attractions, become sallow, scrawny, stiff and heavy in 
their movements ; and the dimple, which in the fresh, rounded 
cheek was a bewitching, coquettish little indenture, playing 
at hide and seek with itself, in the thin pallid cheek becomes 
a deep furrow, adding one more line of age. 

Those women who have been famous as beauties long 
after the years of youthful charm were past, have observed 
the most rigid regime in all matters of bathing, diet and 
exercise. They have studied arts whereby they might keep 
their eyes from dimming, their skin from wrinkling and 
their complexion from becoming blurred. Often the arts 
were very simple. One famous beauty kept her skin beau- 
tiful, so the records aver, by the use of rain-water ; another 
is said to have bathed in milk, to which she added the juice 



68 . Hygiene of the Skin and 

of crushed strawberries, and yet others wore poultices 
made of bread and milk during the hours of sleep. 

It is doubtful if anything better than rain-water has 
ever been found for the skin, although skins differ so 
in texture, color and sensitiveness that no one rule of 
treatment can be given. For the dry skin milk is undoubt- 
edly an excellent substitute for the oil not furnished in 
sufficient quantity by nature, and cold cream, scientifically 
used in connection with massage, will not only prevent, but 
cure wrinkles. Many country girls keep their skins fresh 
and clear by the use of butter-milk, and luke warm milk has 
been in favor with rural belles from the time it was car- 
ried to Nero's wife down to the present. 

A celebrated physician who has made a life-long study of 
the skin advises women to bathe the face on retiring with a 
liberal quantity of warm water, and to use freely some pure 
soap, then on arising to douse the face thoroughly with 
cold water. This is unquestionably a healthy mode of 
treatment for many skins, but there are faces so sensitive 
that they cannot endure any soap. With such warm water 
may be used, its cleansing power increased by a few drops 
of eau de cologne, or some French vinaigre. 

Some ladies eschew water altof{ether, and resort to other 
ways of cleansing the face, but such mode of treatment 
are not to be commended. What is known as " Virginal 



Treatment of the Complexion. 69 

milk," a preparation made of benzoin and rose-water, has 
been popular with the belles of many countries; olive, almond, 
or cocoanut oil are often used upon retiring, and such quan- 
tities as the skin has not absorbed, " washed off" in the 
morning with Florida or rose-water, or wiped off with a soft 
cloth. Almost all skins, especially in our climate, require 
oil in some form to nourish the tissues and prevent the 
coming of wrinkles. Some persons with skins not over- 
sensitive can use cocoanut oil, but, upon many faces, it 
produces a disagreeable redness. Irish belles preserve the 
famous beauty of their skins by washing the face in a prep- 
aration made of buttermilk and oatmeal, and a handfull of 
oatmeal in a bowl of rain water will give to many faces all 
the nutrition they require ; oatmeal also renders hard water 
delightfully soft and agreeable. Vaseline as a nutritous 
ointment for the face, is not to be recommended to those 
women upon whose skin there is a tendency towards the 
growth of hair, nor do those skins which perspire freely re- 
quire as great care as those which are dry. Women who 
live in countries where the climate is moist and warm, or 
foggy, have clearer, healthier skins than those who live in 
cold or dry regions. The reason for this is that the sebacious 
glands of the face are aided in their work, which is to keep 
the skin soft and pliable. In cold or harsh climates these 
innumerable glands, intended by their secretions to purify 



JO Hygiene of the Skin and 

the skin, and to keep it free from all blemishes, roughness 
and dryness, act less readily, and hence the need of some 
unguent to stimulate their action. 

The washes and ointments so extensively advertised for 
the skin should never be used except in accordance with the 
advice of a physician. Most of the creams upon the market 
are ruinous to the complexion, and so also are the advertised 
modes of beautifying the skin by alleged chemical processes. 

Before resorting to any treatment of the skin, one should 
consult some reliable physician as to the best course to 
be pursued. Because glycerine keeps the complexion of one 
woman soft and healthy, it cannot be recommended to all, 
and if vaseline is the only cosmetic of one famous beauty, 
it does not follow that it is a safe toilet article for every 
woman. There are, however, certain arbitrary rules for the 
treatment of the skin, and the cultivation and possession of 
beauty which should be known and obeyed of all women. 
One of these is that the face w^henever bathed or anointed 
should be rubbed in accordance with certain scientific prin- 
ciples. The lower part of the face should be rubbed up. 
If there are wrinkles on the forehead it should be rubbed 
according to the direction they assume. If they are trans- 
verse, the forehead should be rubbed up, if they are vertical 
it should be rubbed across. 

If the cheeks are hollow the action of the muscles may 



Treatment of the Complexion. 7 1 

be stimulated by certain physical movements such as draw- 
ing the corners of the mouth backward and forward as 
rapidly as possible. Thin cadaverous faces may also be 
improved by scientific massage, (for there is a science of 
massage, notwithstanding the fact that the impression pre- 
vails that strength of muscle and not intelligent manipula- 
tion is required), but it must be studied with a masseur, 
who has made the treatment of the face a specialty, and 
who understands its anatomy, or the skin will be made 
rough and coarse, and wrinkles will be induced. Gently 
pinching the hollows in the face will often stimulate and 
improve its appearance. 

Sometimes a complexion which continues bad under all 
treatment will be improved by a nightly anointment of castor 
oil, which is an efficacious, if not an agreeable remedy for an 
unhealthy skin. The use of hot water has caused the 
multiplication of wrinkles on many sensitive skins. The 
complexion may receive a temporary brilliancy, but I have 
known several lovely skins spoiled by such treatment. Rub- 
bing the face gently with a flannel produces a delightful glow, 
and gives some skins health as well as beauty. 

When the conditions of life subject one to changes of 
locality where the water provided for the toilet might prove 
highly injurious, it is best to avoid all possibility of detriment 
to the skin by being always furnished with some means of 



72 Hygiene of the Skin and 

cleansing it. Some famous beauties of olden time had always 
with them, when traveling, bottles of rain-water, and modern 
sciences has produced no rival for this most healthful of 
nature's cosmetics. Many sensitive skins are subject to 
freckles and will be annoyed by them whenever the skin 
is exposed to the sun or wind. When they result from 
impurities in the system' they require to be considered 
in connection with the general health. Moles are due 
to causes which require special and often, surgical con- 
sideration. As to wrinkles, their appearance is due to a 
multiplicity of causes, and they need to be considered from 
many stand-points. The naso-labial wrinkle which extends 
from the sides of the nose toward the angles of the mouth 
can be kept away many years by the movement already 
given. Wrinkles which appear as the result of impoverish- 
ment of the system can be lessened by a proper diet, facial 
massage and the use of cream well rubbed into the lines. 
The skin absorbs the cream and the face is nourished 
and made plump in consequence. The transverse wrinkles 
of the forehead, when they appear prematurely are unfailing 
signs of disease, but vertical lines at an early age indicate 
excessive brain work or mental anxiety. 

The lines about the eye — crow's feet — may be caused by 
want of health or unhappiness. They come in most faces 
at forty years of age, and are often seen at a much earlier 



Treatment of the Complexion. jt^ 

period. The approach of wrinkles upon faces subjected to 
unfavorable climatic influence can be guarded against by 
careful attention to the laws of health and the use of some 
unguent. A famous dermatologist gave to a w^oman, one 
side of whose face had been drawn by a slight but dis- 
figuring paralytic shock, directions by which to restore her 
beauty, which were as simple as they were efficacious, and, 
which followed, consisted merely of the daily bathing of the 
face in alcohol and water, two parts of the latter to one 
portion of the former.. 

Steaming the face with alcohol is sometimes recom- 
mended to stimulate the skin, but the vapor bath is as 
effective, and more to be commended because it stimu- 
lates the entire body. When taking a Turkish or Russian 
bath, it is well to massage the face oneself — made moist 
by profuse perspiration, it will be very responsive to the 
action of the fingers. 

Often wrinkles are caused by mal-assimilation, and this 
is invariably true of those that appear on the neck prema- 
turely. Although wrinkles may appear on any part of the 
body, they are most frequently found on the more pliable 
portions of the face. Any influence which produces the 
alternate expansion and contraction of the skin will produce 
wrinkles, hence they appear early in those faces which most 
readily express the emotions of the mind as well as in those 



74 Hygiene of the Skin and 

which have lost flesh through imperfect circulation, and been 
alternately full and thin. 

Grief, anger, sickness, debauchery, all leave their own 
peculiar lines upon the face, as easily read of the skilled 
physiognomist as the pages of a printed volume. There 
must be culture of the spiritual as well as of the physical 
being to insure the possession of a beautiful face. The old 
saying that " Beauty is only skin-deep " can rarely be applied 
to those who possess it when the coloring and freshness that 
belong to youth have out-lived the years of girlhood, for 
unless the inner as well as outer graces are cultivated, the 
charms of a lovely face are but ephemeral. How often 
handsome women degenerate into ugliness through neglect 
or dissipation of their God-given graces ! 

To transpose the saying of Corneille, 

'' Wrinkles have graven on his brow his deeds," 

the thoughts of man are graven on his brow, and yet the 
former is as comprehensive, for thoughts are deeds so far 
as the spiritual life is concerned. ^ 

It has been said that no woman is at fault who is not 
beautiful at sixteen, but any woman not beautiful at sixty has 
herself to blarne, and just as surely as neglect, unholy 
passions, and uncontrolled appetites change beauty to gross 
ugliness, just as surely may plainness and dullness of coloring 



Treatment of the Complexion, 75 

and features be changed to pleasing tints and expression by 
earnest resolve. Women may become stouter or thinner, 
gain color or reduce it, regain lost complexions and hair, 
grace and elasticity — in short, be cured of the physical 
defects which constitute the difference between beauty and 
ugliness, if they determine. 

What are the requisites for these wonderful improvements? 
A rigid regime of bathing, diet, and exercise, with health- 
ful dressing and regularity in all the habits of life. Sleep 
is as essential to healthful life as are air, exercise and food. 
Especially should women of a nervous temperament sleep 
as much as possible, and equalize the circulation of brain 
and body by a mid-day nap whenever practicable. It is 
wonderful how sleep restores wasted energy and revivifies 
the entire being. I have seen a dull, lifeless complexion 
literally transformed by a month's practice of retiring early, 
and it will be found that the beauties in all countries are 
women who know the value of sleep as a beautifier. 

To retire early at night, to be up in the morning in time 
to catch the first rays of the salubrious rising sun, to eat 
sufficiently of wholesome food, bathe frequently, air the 
underclothing carefully each day, change it frequently, and 
treat the skin to the luxury of an air and sun bath daily, 
are positive means for the acquirement of health, happiness 
and beauty. 



76 Hygiene of the Skin, etc. 

The preservation of physical charms is a science which 
includes care for every function of the body, and its study 
argues more than the gratification of vanity. It means the 
perpetuation of health and the ultimate redemption from all 
the discords of disease. . 



V. 

BATHS. 

ly TO subject pertaining to health requires more careful 
study than that of bathing. To many minds the idea 
of a bath is associated with a weekly plunge into a quan- 
tity of warm water, or the occasional soaking of the body 
for a certain length of time in a well-filled bath-tub, and 
these periodical ablutions are supposed to cleanse the skin 
and keep it sweet and healthy. An analysis of the warm 
bath would show, however, that it is oftener a means of 
re-absorbing poison into the system than of freeing it from 
impurities, for the mere act of allowing the body to remain 
in water for a certain length of time but frees the epidermis 
from matter which, dissolved in the water, is taken again 
into the system through the innumerable pores of the skin. 
The feeling of languor which often follows the bath, as 
ordinarily taken, gives strongest evidence of its enervating 
effect upon the system, for bathing in accordance with 
hygienic principles gives to the entire being a sense of 
refreshment and exhilaration. 

When one is physically weary or mentally overtaxed the 



yS Baths. 

warm bath has often a soothing effect upon both mind and 
body, but as a means of cleansing the body it has Httle 
value. Indeed the use of water must be attended with 
agencies calculated to stimulate the skin for its remedial 
effects to be secured. This is a truth which seems to have 
been recognized by the early nations of history, for the 
thermal principle of the Turkish bath entered into all the 
more luxurious forms of bathing. In the land of the East 
cleanliness seems to have been from earliest times associated 
with ideas of godliness, and among the most important of 
.Mosaical ceremonies were those for the purification of the 
body. 

Among the Egyptians, to whom the preservation of the 
body even after life was extinct was a religious duty, the 
physiological benefits of the baths may at first have revealed 
themselves, for although the monuments betray no records 
of their existence they are described in "the Atlantis, deliv- 
ered by Plato as from Egyptian teachings." In that most 
fascinating romance baths of surpassing luxury and mag- 
nificence are described, with special rooms for royalty, certain 
ones for men, and others for women. Like other baths of 
ancient time they seemed to have considered all influences 
that could add to the delights and benefits of this exercise, 
for the body was exposed to air and sunshine as well as to 
varying degrees of temperature and water. 



Baths. 79 

The Greeks, ever ready to appreciate aught that could 
beautify or improve the physical form, were not slow to 
perceive the advantages of the bath, which they adopted as 
practiced in the East, and so thoroughly did it become one 
of their institutions that the Romans believed it original 
with them. It was reserved for the Caesars, however, to give 
to the world the most luxurious, costly and beautiful baths 
known in the records of human history. Nothing that art 
could suggest, or a luxury-loving people demand, was absent 
from the famous baths built by the early emperors of Rome. 
All influences were considered that could act upon man's 
three-fold nature. No gallery . of painting or of sculpture 
was richer in the genius of the time, while in the construction 
of the baths themselves was displayed all the architectural 
science of the age, and is it not a fact noteworthy of present 
generations that the era of these baths was also the era of 
the nation's greatest achievement — the "golden age" of 
Rome. 

In a study of the baths known to the days of Augustus 
is found a volume of instruction upon the subject of phys- 
ical culture, for their study embraces a knowledge of the 
gymnasia of the time, since halls devoted to physical 
exercise were found in all the more elaborate public baths. 
These halls were open whenever possible to the sun and 
air, for the Romans seem to have been intelligent regarding 



8o Baths. 

the magnetic properties of both. In fact so perfect was 
the physical regime of these imperial baths that no science 
of later time has been able to add unto its value, and no 
nation since has been either ambitious or wise enough to 
give to its people institutions modelled after these most 
famous ones of ancient history. It is to be hoped that 
with the growth of national societies for the promotion of 
physical culture there will be a revival of respect for the 
practices to which earlier nations owed their strength and 
health, but to-day, as in the yesterdays of time, the East 
remains the land of the bath. To impress its virtues 
upon the people it has become inseparably connected with 
the mosque, and where it is most common are found always 
fine specimens of physical being. 

With the women of Oriental countries the days of the 
bath are seasons of rejoicing, " being " says a writer, " the 
sole occasions upon which they escape from the confinement 
of the harem or home," and the relation which the frequent 
enjoyment of the bath bears to the far-famed beauty of 
those Eastern houris is worth a thought from the women 
of the Occident. If with the former class too much of life 
is spent in culture of the sensuous physical, there are yet' 
lessons of health and wisdom to be learned from a study 
of some of their customs and exercises. Beauty is with 
them as much a thing of culture as of inheritance; so it 



Baths, 8 1 

may be with all. A beautiful skin depends primarily upon 
good physical conditions, and in no better way can these 
be secured than by judicious habits of bathing and diet. 
The warm bath, as ordinarily taken, so popular with many 
women, is not an efficacious way of keeping the pores of 
the skin free and healthy. Is it then to be completely con- 
demned ? No, it may be used for purposes of general- 
physical and mental relaxation, but it should be always 
followed by vigorous rubbing of the entire surface of the 
body with rough towels, hair gloves, or flesh brush. 

Regarding the daily use of cold water as a means of 
cleansing the body, it is no more efificaicous than is the 
warm bath, but its practice is attended with certain benefits 
not to be ignored. Indeed to many people these benefits 
are so apparent that they recommend the cold bath to every- 
body without consideration of individual needs or strength. 
There are persons however, to whose systems the use of 
cold water gives a shock which may be attended with 
serious injury to health. Instead of being stimulated by 
its use the physical powers seem weakened, and a sense of 
languor pervades the entire being. 

Where the use of cold water is followed by a sense of 
invigoration, quickened circulation and consequent warmth, 
it is a wonderful tonic. Often the use of a coarse flannel 
as a means of applying water to the skin will relieve one 



82 Baths. 

from the chilling, depressing sensation given by a sponge. 
The rough texture of the flannel stimulates the skin and 
makes the chill of the water less apparent. The flannel 
should be thoroughly wet, and the body rubbed with it. 
I have known many persons who had never before been 
able to use cold water to find in the cold bath thus taken a 
wonderful stimulus to health 

It is well to add always to the water of the daily bath a 
small quantity of ammonia, or of sea-salt. In this way the 
water will not only be rendered less harsh, but increased in 
efficacy. For many people ammonia is more desirable than 
salt, and it will be found especially strengthening to those 
whose physical or mental powers have been overtaxed. 

There are people who like to begin the day with a plunge 
in a tub filled with cold water, followed by vigorous rub- 
bings, and for those possessed of abundant and overflowing 
vitality this practice is both enjoyable and beneficial, but for 
most persons the powers will be more agreeably stimulated 
by applying water to the body with bathing mittens, brushes 
or flannels. The sponge should never be used in connection 
with the bath. It is in its very nature an absorbent of the 
of the elements which surround it, and it becomes in use an 
accumulation of secretions from the body and atmosphere, 
a most uncleanly and undesirable article to be used in the 
cleaning processes of the bath, 



Baths. %i 

Two most important adjuncts to the b^th are soap and 
friction. It is not imperative that soap should be used daily, 
but the good effects of the bath, whenever taken, depend 
upon the amount of friction applied to the skin. It has 
been shown that the body can be kept in a healthy con- 
dition by rubbing its entire surface every day with some 
rough material, but water is too valuable a tonic to be 
withheld unless for special reasons from the system. 

More than water, however, is demanded by the skin and 
system for their nutrition and health. To water a plant 
which was kept constantly deprived of light and air would 
not give it vigor, though the water were most freely given 
and impregnated with strengthening elements. Every one 
knows the sickly bloomless condition of plants kept con- 
stantly in the shade, but every one does not know that 
air and sunshine are as essential to the health of human 
beings as of plants. Salutary as are the effects of water 
upon the body they do not compare with those produced 
, by free exposure to air and sunshine. There is a vitaliz- 
ing power in the latter possessed by no other physical 
influence. If men and women could be made to realize 
the great life-giving force of the sun, and consider expo- 
sure of the body to its rays as imperative as the use 
of water, health might be the possession of nearly all. In 
every home a room should be constructed for the purpose of 



84 Baths, 

bathing the body in light as well as in water. It would 
be well to have the bath-room of the house so planned as 
to be directly open to the rays of the morning or noon- 
day sun. It is a most serious mistake to have a room 
so important to every member of the family built, as it is 
in most modern houses, impervious to light and well-nigh 
so to air. 

The sun as a remedial agent was recognized by both 
the Greeks and Romans, and not only were solaria con- 
structed in connection with the most famous baths, but 
private houses were so constructed that the occupants 
could walk upon their roofs and expose the nude body 
to sun and air. The dress of the day recognized, moreover, 
the body's need of air and allowed it to reach every 
part. 

Some modern city liouses have roofs which may be 
made to serve the purpose of solariums, and I have known 
women suffering from nervous prostration and general de- 
bility to be marvellously improved in health by resorting 
daily to these roofs where for an hour or more they felt 
the invigorating power of sunshine and air. The nude 
body was not, it is true, exposed, but through the clothing 
it felt the healing power of the sun's rays. I have known 
a woman, too feeble to walk, carried on a cot, even on 
cold winter days, to the roof of the house and there left 



Baths. 85 

for the mid-day hour, and the continuance of this treat- 
ment was attended with marked benefits. If through the 
clothing the body responds to the action of the sun, what 
results might not be achieved by exposing it uncovered to 
direct solar rays. 

So important is the influence of sunlight upon physical 
well-being that it is found that the health of those individuals 
who sleep in rooms where sunlight never enters becomes 
impaired. Diseases of the throat and lungs as well as 
general debility may be created by using merely during the 
hours of sleep a room whose air has not been purified and 
sweetened by the action of the sun. 

Many instances are on record of persons regarded as 
hopeless invalids who were restored to health by spending a 
part of each day out-of-doors with the body wholly exposed 
to light and air. Especially is it important that the bodies 
of growing children should be as tenderly cared for as are 
plants, and it would be well if in connection with every 
home there was a room or garden where the children could 
daily have a sun bath. 

Sunlight contains elements most essential to physical life, 
and in such form and proportion as can nowhere else be 
found. It is to be hoped that the day is not far distant 
when homes will be more hygienically constructed than 
they are at present, with rooms that shall admit the sun- 



86 Baths. 

shine as primary considerations. Already the residences of 
the wealthy are airier and sunnier than were those seen a 
few years since, when vine-wreathed piazzas and shaded 
windows were the rule and not, as they are going to be, the 
exception. Houses half hidden in "embowering shade" 
may be attractive themes for the poet's fancy, but they are 
most unhealthy places in which to live. 

With all the restrictions of the present, however, summer 
is full of golden opportunities for all classes, and there are 
few persons who cannot devise ways and means to have sun 
and air baths ad libitum. It is, moreover, possible to have 
an air-bath every day in the year, and if the bath-room be, 
as the bath-rooms of too many houses are, in the middle of 
the house let one's own room be used. Open the windows, 
remove all the clothing and walk briskly about for five, ten 
or fifteen minutes. Do not allow the body to become 
chilled, and follow the bath by the use of some stimulant 
to the skin. No cosmetic ever invented can do for the 
skin and complexion what may be accomplished by air and 
sun-baths. All forms of liver-disease may be permanently 
cured, while eruptions of the skin usually disappear as if 
by magic. Note the physical appearance of those people 
who are much out-of-doors. What bright complexions, 
sparkling eyes, over-flowing vitality the most of them 
possess. 



Baths. 87 

It is to be regretted that the Turkish and Roman and 
Russian baths of the present have not yet recognized the 
necessity of adding to their well-appointed rooms one where 
their patrons could, as did the patrons of the bath in early 
times, receive upon their bodies the benefits of solar action. 
Indeed if solaria could be as generally established as are 
Turkish baths, they would be much more universally patron- 
ized than are the latter institutions, for the effect upon health 
which their use would produce, would commend them 
without reserve. The action of the sun upon the body is, 
moreover, the most potent influence known for giving it 
comeliness of form. "Sun-exposed bodies," says a famous 
writer upon this subject, "gain such activity of the blood- 
forces as to prevent any excessive forming of adipose 
matter and hence the ugliness of obesity is avoided. On 
the other hand the solar rays quicken the nutrient functions 
so that leanness may be averted or remedied." 

The order followed in the bath as given in the days of 
Augustus was in thorough accord with the most perfect 
system of hygiene. The body, denuded of all clothing, was 
first anointed in oil, then in another room covered with fine 
sand or powder, and after this a hall open to light and air 
was entered where physical exercises were engaged in. 
Later came the processes of the bath as known to those 
familiar with the principles of the Turkish bath, for with the 



88 Baths, 

exception of the strigil, a kind of ivory or metal knife for 
scraping the body, the processes of the bath to-day, says a 
writer, are identical with those in operation in Rome 1900 
years ago. . 

The value of oil as a means of giving nutrition to the 
body seems to have been well-understood by the ancients. 
Its use in modern times constitutes what is called the 
Roman bath, although with the Romans it w^as but one of 
the processes of the bath. The remedial quality of oil makes 
it a most valuable adjunct to the bath for those persons 
whose physical powers are debilitated; it not only tones up 
the general system, but acts directly upon weakened organs 
in many instances. For so great is the absorbent power of 
the skin that the pores are most effective agencies for intro- 
ducing medicinal and nutritive elements into the system. 
Thus rubbing the chest with oil will not only tend toward 
its development, but strengthen the lungs as well, and dis- 
eases of the stomach and bowels may often be cured through 
continuous anointments. Rubbing the body with oil is a 
most beneficial practice for women who desire to attain 
plumpness. 

One of the great advantages of any bath is found in the 
attendant rubbings, for there is a magnetic power in the 
human hand capable of giving wonderful force to vital and 
mental being. One of the most delightful features of the 



Baths. 89 

Turkish bath is the shampooing of the body, provided it is 
done by a person of vital or electrical qualities. 

As a means whereby health may be acquired all the prac- 
tices of the various baths should be intelligently studied. 
There are women who forego the benefits of the bath through 
mistaken and perverted ideas of modesty, but their number is 
constantly diminishing through the influence of hygienic 
study. As a means of cleansing the body as well as of free- 
ing the system from impurities, the Turkish bath should be 
taken by all women not prohibited by physicians from its 
practices. For diseases of the liver it is a remedy with which 
all subject to any -of this organ's multitudinous ills should be 
familiar. If, upon entering the hot room, which is the first 
one entered after disrobing the body and enveloping it in the 
concealing sheet, women with sensitive livers make known 
their physical needs to the attendant, hot flannel swathes are 
provided which are most beneficial, in their results. 

In the modern as in the ancient bath, one may pass from 
the tepidarium or first room, to one hotter, but most women 
prefer to remain a greater length of time in the former, and 
then pass therefrom directly to the shampooing room. 

For one taking a Turkish bath for the first time the follow- 
ing order of rooms is recommended. Enter, immediately 
upon disrobing, the tepidarium, and remain there five or ten 
minutes, according to the agreeableness of the physical sensa- 



90 Baths. 

tions experienced. With some persons perspiration is im- 
mediate, with others it is induced with difficulty, and in 
such cases it is well to quicken its action by taking a glass of 
hot water, which the attendant is always ready to offer. 
That the body should perspire freely is most important, as 
without such result the main object of the bath, to throw 
off the impurities of the system, is defeated. Upon leav- 
ing the tepidarium enter the vapor or steam-room, and re- 
main there until the skin is soft and pliable. Throw off 
the enveloping sheet, and let the body receive directly the 
benefits of the vapor. From the vapor-room the entrance to 
the shampooing-room is direct, and here the body is stretched 
upon a marble bench where it receives those manipulations at 
once so agreeable and so invigorating. Instead of the strigil 
of Roman days, the dead cuticle of the body is removed by a 
vigorous kneading of its parts, and then its entire surface is 
gone over with a brush, or a quantity of cocoanut fibre as 
delightful to the sense as may have been the soft, fibrous 
" liffe " of the palm-tree used by the ancients after the strigil. 
Among the women of Oriental countries perfumed water is 
used for bathing the body, after which it is carefully dried 
with scented towels, and before the clothing is resumed it, 
too, is passed through the fragrant vapor of wood of aloes. 
Nor do those Eastern women hurry off immediately after the 
bath, and thereby destroy half its good effects. They remain 



Baths, 9 1 

languid and indolent upon their couches, sleeping, chatting or 
being entertained. 

One should always rest at least half an hour afte the bath 
and sleep whenever possible. Unless sufficient time for such 
rest can be permitted it is better not to take the bath at all. 

A delightful way of adding to the remedial properties of 
the bath is to hiive, as a concluding process, the entire body 
bathed in alcohol. This not only prevents all possibility of 
cold, but acts as a tonic. The bath, however, intelligently 
taken, need never produce colds. 

Some women object to the Turkish bath because of its 
ability to reduce flesh. But like all other healthful physical 
practices its tendency is toward the establishment of normal 
conditions, so that while the abnormally stout woman grows 
thin, the abnormally thin one becomes plump. As a direct 
means of gaining flesh, many women have found the Russian 
bath preferable to the Turkish, but in any bath one should 
study the effect produced upon her physical organization 
and govern herself accordingly. 

The Russian bath is practically a vapor bath, where the 
body comes without preliminary treatment under the com- 
bined action of heat and steam, and one may be deceived as 
to the perspiratory system by the artificial moisture envelop- 
ing the body. As perspiration is a means of strengthening 
the system, one should study the form of bath wherein its 



92 Baths. 

iufluence can be most hygienically secured. Indeed, indi- 
vidual temperament and personal needs must always deter- 
mine the form of bath to be taken, and the frequency of its 
exercise, and it is moreover, best to be supported in one's own 
opinion by the advice of a reliable physician. Certain women 
are so sensitive that the only form of bath they should take 
daily is the air-bath, and while cold water should never be 
used without scientific knowledge of one's physical condition, 
the body of the most delicate girl may be exposed to light 
and air without fear of attendant injury or subsequent harm. 
The processes of the Turkish bath are found by certain indi- 
viduals too vigorous for enjoyment or benefit, and for such 
the friction which follows the sun or air bath will prove an 
agreeable sustitute for the shampooing practices of the 
Oriental bath. 

Most women of super-abundant flesh and flaccid muscles 
may take with benefit and enjoyment the Turkish bath once 
or twice a week, and all women not forbidden its use by 
physicians should take it at least once a month. During the 
Spring it will prove a most healthful practice, and no medi- 
cine will so promptly free the system from its impurities or as 
readily tone up debilitated powers. 

For those who live in communities where Turkish, Russian 
and Roman baths are unknown, the bath-room of the home 
must be utilized to its full extent. Let it be made on occa- 



Baths. 93 

sion as hot as possible, and the bath-tub filled with very hot 
water. Then expose the nude body to the heat and vapor, 
and spray it off afterwards with cold water. This process 
followed by vigorous rubbing and a subsequent nap will be 
almost as stimulating as a real Turkish or Russian bath. 
The Japanese are said to owe their wonderful vitality to the 
national practice of bathing in very hot water, which is often 
so heated as to boil about their bodies as they remain sub- 
merged in it, but the value of concluding the bath by spraying 
the body with cold water is evidently unknown to them. 

All warm or hot baths should be followed by a dash of 
cold water over the entire body to close the pores and to 
prevent all danger of cold. The fibrous nerves which ter- 
minate at every part of the body conduct vital force away 
from the system whenever they are excited. As heat draws 
the force away very rapidly, the tendency of the warm 
bath is to throw the ends of the nerves into a state of 
excitement, which often continues for days with attendant loss 
of vital force. By the timely and judicious use of cold water 
this loss may be overcome, as it at once hardens the nerve 
fibers and thus checks the outflow of vitality. Care must, 
however^ be taken not to use the cold water in over quantity ; 
a dash of it on the body is sufficient, for its more excessive 
use is apt to produce chilliness, to drive the blood back from 
the surface and congest the organs. Thus, after the sun bath, 



94 Baths. 

the spray thrown over the body should be as dehcate as pos- 
sible, that none of the magnetism received from the sun's 
rays may be dissipated. 

Care must also be taken that none of the benefits of the 
bath may be lessened by putting on to the freshly bathed 
and annointed body clothing which has become impregnated 
with secretions from the body and atmosphere. To take the 
most cleansing bath and then resume garments full of dead 
matter from the system is to destroy all its beneficent influ- 
ence, for the skin, increased in susceptibility to all external 
conditions, absorbs at once elements of poison from such 
clothing. If the garments cannot be subjected to the purify- 
ing processes employed during the bath by the women 
of the Orient, they can, at least, be always well-aired. 

In only the largest modern cities are the sanitary baths of 
olden time established, but if their importance to health were 
more generally understood they would be as universal as 
churches, and their influence would be as beneficent, for with 
the culture of the physical would come upliftment of all 
being. The spiritualizing forces of nature are aroused 
through the harmonious development of all her powers, and 
if ever our nation, like that Roman one of old, awakes to 
the importance of public baths, and models them after those 
of early history, the possibilities of a new era will unfold 
themselves. 



VI. 

BREATHING. 

T3 REATHING, which begins with Hfe, and ends only with 
^"^ death — yea, is the Hfe — would not, when first con- 
sidered, seem a subject for special thought; and did men 
live in accordance with natural law, this would doubtless be 
true; but function can be perverted, and oftentimes in this 
apparently simple matter of breathing, we defy Nature's 
behests. 

Did statistics give the ratio of persons who are deprived 
of much of the life force which could be conserved through 
the medium of the lungs, we should be surprised and incred- 
ulous, yet it is true that very few persons breathe at once 
naturally arid in a manner to induce great physical vitality 
and preserve sound lungs. In the case of those who 
habitually stoop — of scholars bending over their books, of 
the seamstress at her work, or a clerk at his desk, of all 
persons engaged in sedentary occupations — we have the 
results of lowered vitality and a distinct tendency toward 
pulmonary troubles, because the cramping position renders 
natural and regular breathing almost impossible; and breath 



96 Breathing. 

is life or death according to the conditions governing the 
manner of breathing and matter breathed. 

It is superfluous to say that pure air is essential to health, 
so often has this truism been repeated. Oxygen is the great 
sanitary agent of the body, and the lungs purify the blood, 
which casts out carbonic acid in passing through them, by 
gathering up oxygen to change the dark venous condition 
to the bright arterial one. Whatever interferes with this 
process of nature, in ever so slight a degree, has a tendency 
to establish disease and decay. Thus if from lack of power 
in the respiratory muscles one cannot inhale pure air in the 
quantity required by nature, atmospheric conditions, how- 
ever favorable, are of little value ; and when it is remembered 
that four-fifths of all the elements which make up a perfect 
body are derived from the air, the relation which correct 
habits of breathing bear to life and physical well-being will 
at once be perceived. 

Without enlarging upon physiological truths, it will be 
of profit to consider, in a general way, the action of the 
respiratory organs. 

In breathing, the diaphragm contracts, and the air is 
drawn into the base of the lungs. Simultaneously with this 
action there is an action of the vocal cords which prevents 
the air from escaping through the trachea, and the dia- 
phragm, expanding and rising, the air is forced upward into 



Breathing, 97 

the apex of the lungs, and in this way every cell is reached 
and vitalized. Where the vocal cords fail in their action, or 
continuous pressure on the ribs and muscles prevent con- 
traction of the diaphragm, this movement being dependent 
upon the expansion of the chest, the lungs cannot be properly 
aerated. 

Pulmonary consumption usually begins in the apex of 
the lungs, and, by establishing a habit of correct breathing, 
its prevalence could be greatly diminished. 

It is beneficial to exercise all of the muscles of the chest 
and lungs to their fullest capacity several times daily, always 
in a well-ventilated room ; continuing this practice for a time 
increases the gamut of thoracic contraction and expansion to 
a marked degree. Cases have come under my observation 
where incipient consumption has been arrested by this 
practice. 

The air vesicles are of a flexible nature and they must be 
thoroughly exercised to preserve strength and elasticity; on 
the same principle that the muscles of the arms or legs, 
through disuse, become shrivelled and incapacitated, inade- 
quate exercise of the lungs weakens the air-cells. 

It is true that incorrect breathing does not always result 
in consumption, but in just the ratio that respiration is 
decreased, is the susceptibility of the lungs to disease 
increased. Insufficient inspiration, and consequent deficiency 



98 Breathing. 

in the supply of oxygen may show itself in another form — 
may result in indigestion ; failure to aerate the blood 
decreases the supply, and consequently the force in propell- 
ing the digestive apparatus. 

In the breathing exercise, do not try to. acquire some 
abnormal and difficult method of respiration, rather think of 
it as a muscular action, directed toward securing flexibility of 
the muscles and free use of the floating ribs. Flexibility of 
the chest is inseparable from natural easy breathing like that 
of unconstrained bodies in repose. Correct breathing is 
noticeable for the almost motionless condition of the upper 
part of the chest, and a slow, gentle, but firm movement 
about the lower part, with a sympathetic action of the 
abdominal muscles. 

Breathing exercises should be practiced, at first, with the 
body in the correct standing position, with the chest well- 
raised, and the weight firmly placed on the balls of the feet. 
The air is drawn through the nostrils into the trachea, 
or windpipe, by which it is conveyed to the bronchi, two 
similar tubes which pass to the right and left lungs respec- 
tively ; thence to the bronchial tubes, which are an intricate 
mass of branches ending in elastic sacs known as air-cells. 

In order to fill and expand these air-cells fully, the cavity 
of the chest must be enlarged, and this constitutes the 
principal reason why tight-lacing is so injurious. The 



Breathing. 99 

increase of the cavity is rendered difficult, and in extreme 
cases almost impossible, because the ribs, especially the 
floating ribs, which give the walls of the chest their shape, 
become fixed and stationary, and the muscles which move 
them are consequently weakened, and often wellnigh para- 
lyzed, from insufficient use; the air-sacs in the lungs are 
imperfectly expanded, and the spongy, elastic lung-tissues 
suffer decay in proportion to disuse and abuse. In correct 
breathing, where clothing is sufficiently free, the proper 
enlargement of the thoracic cavity takes place by means oi 
muscles which draw the ribs upward and forward with each 
breath inhaled. The diaphragm, the most important 
breathing muscle, which is in its normal position an arch, 
contracts, the arch becomes lowered and almost straight, 
forcing the vital organs of the abdomen downward and 
slightly forward; thus we get the correct vitalized breathing — 
diaphragmatic breathing. As the flattened arch or dia- 
phragm again assumes its normal position the ribs, which 
have risen as the diaphragm fell, reverse positions; that is, 
the ribs fall as the diaphragm rises, and this sympathetic 
action of the two, in turn, affects the lungs, forcing the air to 
the very apex, expanding every part, after which the vitalized 
action is succeeded by a partial collapse of the air-cells as 
the exhausted air is returned through the bronchi and 
windpipe to be expelled, in order that nature may repeat 



I oo Breathing. 

the same action of the organs in inhaling and exhaling pure 
air over and over again, fifteen or more times a minute. 
Correct breathing will, with due thought and determination, 
soon become a fixed habit; nevertheless, when correct 
breathing has been fully established it will always be well 
for the student of physical science to devote ten to twenty 
minutes daily to exaggerated breathing in the open air, that 
is, to forcible inspiration and expiration in a clear atmosphere 
under conditions which will compel all of the vital breathing 
organs to work to their utmost capacity. No tonic will be 
found more beneficial to impure blood and a general condi- 
tion of lassitude. In ordinary respiration from eighteen to 
twenty-five cubic inches of air are inhaled or exhaled; but 
it is possible to greatly increase this amount by the exagger- 
ated breath. While one must have pure air for all respiration, 
if health be considered, it is absolutely imperative that the 
exaggerated breath should be taken in the open air, or in a 
room which permits a free circulation of air. It is most 
excellent practice to take the breathing exercises upon first 
awaking in the morning. If the room has been, as all 
sleeping rooms should be, well-ventilated during the night, 
the air already admitted to the room will be sufficient for 
the inhaling process. To take long, deep inhalations is a 
practice as agreeable as it is invigoratiug. Early morning 
finds, or should find, the physical powers most susceptible to 



B^^eathmg. loi 

external influence, while the body, unfettered by clothing, can 
derive the fullest benefit possible from the breathing move- 
ment. To practice the most commendable forms of breathing, 
exercise with the diaphragmatic or respiratory muscles in 
any way cramped by light clothing is most reprehensible. 
Examination of a great many different victims of tight 
clothing proves that the movement of the diaphragm, or 
floor of the chest, may be so nearly suspended as to be 
imperceptible to the hands, when placed upon the sides of 
the body at the point of the floating ribs, while the chest 
shows an excited and labored state, indicative of an effort 
to command enough air by an unnatural process to supply 
the oxygen so necessary to health. To do this perfectly 
is, of course, impossible, and the accumulation of the venous, 
poisoned blood, often reflects itself upon the nervous system, 
with the result of nervous prostration, consumption, paraly- 
sis, or, in milder form, of a general lassitude and breaking 
down, which is attributed to any and all causes except the 
correct one. 

Upon the intelligent study and control of the breath depend, 
to a great extent, all physical conditions. By the mere prac- 
tice of certain breathing exercises diseases have been cured 
which had refused to yield to the most skillful treatment of 
specialists in their study. In another chapter the value and 
significance of diaphragmatic exercises are presented. 



1 02 Breathing, 

Under normal conditions, the muscular action in breathing- 
is the same in both sexes, although we sometimes hear the 
absurd statement that Nature decreed women should breathe 
differently from men. To learn the way of Nature, observe 
the breathing habits during sleep, when the constraint of 
clothing is removed, or in laboring women, unaccustomed to 
the restrictions of tight clothing. 

Under conditions of violent emotion or exercise only does 
the chest rise and fall ; poets descant upon this action, and 
liken it to the heaving of the waves, but much as this may 
please our poetical fancy, the prosaic fact remains that, in an 
unrestrained, healthy body, it is never an accompaniment of 
repose and quiet meditation, but like the sea-action to which 
it is compared, is indicative of a state of internal disturbance. 

We are attracted by that which appeals to the imagination, 
suggesting vitality and emotion, and by what stimulates our 
own physical, mental and moral organisms to life and activity. 
Vitality and animation are powerful forces, pleasing even to 
the most phlegmatic. Our very natures are opposed to death, 
and the thought is repulsive to us. Then, as we value the 
life principle which is synonymous with sensation and pleas- 
ure, we should resolve not to lessen our quota through abuse 
or partial disuse of those organs — the lungs — from which the 
heart and brain, the parents of sensation, derive their force. 



VII. 

GENERAL THEORIES. 

TN taking exercise pure air is the first requisite, for, when 
one is exercising, the muscular contraction draws the blood 
more rapidly from the heart, and causes one to inspire air 
more freely. In this way the blood is supplied with a greater 
amount of oxygen in passing through the lungs, and as it is 
the oxygen that purifies the blood, by breathing strongly 
when in the fresh air the entire system is revivified. 

These exercises can be taken at any time except just before 
or immediately after eating. When exercise is taken just 
before eating the fatigue which follows will not be overcome 
for some time. When taken immediately after eating, the 
blood which should go to the stomach to carry on the pro- 
cess of digestion is diverted to the muscles. 

Many women say that they have no time to devote to exer- 
cise, yet they have time for headaches and backaches, and 
they expend large sums of money for doctors, advice and 
nurses. 



I04 Genei^al Theories. 

If one would but use up the odd moments in exercise she 
could accomplish a great deal. Suppose that she has to wait 
five or ten minutes for some one, she can stand on one foot 
instead of both feet, or rise on the toes ten or fifteen times. 
One can practice standing, sitting, walking, and going up and 
down stairs correctly while attending to her ordinary affairs. 
She can rest her nerves, and slacken the tension of the 
strained living of the times, when eveiy faculty is worked to 
its utmost, by swaying the hands and head in the devitalizing 
movements. At night when one is tired, exercise will often 
refresh her, for fatigue is frequently the result of having over- 
taxed one part of the body, and the tired feeling is dispelled 
when the circulation is equalized by exercising other parts. 
This is especially true where one is fatigued through mental 
effort. 

The best results are attained, from this system of exercise, 
where one practices in periods of ten or fifteen minutes, two 
or three times daily. 

Do not take the exercises hurriedly, skipping from one to 
another. Each movement should be taken several times, or 
until the muscles become tired, but under no circumstances 
should one exercise to the extent of exhaustion. Forcing 
the muscles to work when they are tired will defeat the 



General TJieoiaes. 105 

object in view, for continued overwork of the muscles will 
produce atrophy of the tissue and an almost irremediable 
injury to the nervous system. I am often asked if abnormal 
development will not be the result of exercising a muscle 
which is fully developed at the outset. There is a limit to 
muscular growth, as there is to everything else. Strictly 
speaking, there is no abnormal muscular development. 
Nature stops short of this point, and that which at first seems 
to be over-development, on investigation is proven to be only 
the natural limit. A perfectly rounded muscle seems out of 
proportion when compared with the undeveloped ones, but by 
rounding the deficient parts a symmetrical and beautiful whole 
will be produced. 

Never exercise in a corset. More harm than good will 
result from such practice. Always exercise in a perfectly 
free costume. A good dress for this purpose is one that 
short enough to clear the boot tops, although it is not 
imperative. 

Practice before a mirror is valuable, because it aids one in 
gaining precision of movement. The mind is also interested 
through the medium of the eye. This is a point worthy of 
consideration, for it is necessary to the best results that the 
mind should be interested. One may go through with 



io6 Ge7ieral Theories, 

her exercises every day, but if she does them indolently, 
grudging the time and effort, they will avail her very little. 
Bodily robustness, graceful and pleasing proportions, cannot 
be attained when there is half-heartedness and indolence. At 
the present day it is commonly understood that exercise is 
needed to bring into a state of health persons suffering from 
ansemia and disease, but it is not so generally understood that 
the exhilerating effect produced by the enjoyment of exercise 
is quite as important a factor in promoting health as the exer- 
cise itself If one suffering from " general debility," who is 
a lover of nature, and able to walk half a mile daily, were 
to go out on a lovely morning in the early part of June, 
when all nature is bright and joyous, she would return from 
her walk enlivened, not alone by the exercise but also by 
communion with nature. If instead of taking her walk amid 
the beauties of nature she were to retire to a room devoid 
of ornament and furnishings, destitute of sunlight and fresh 
air — a room where everything was dark and cheerless — and 
take her half mile walk on a tread-mill erected for the pur- 
pose, under the delusion that it was motion merely that was 
needed; do you think that she would be enlivened and in- 
vigorated by it? No, she would be worse off than she 
was in the beginning, for her mind would be disfigured by 
the tread-mill performance, and her body in consequence 
fatigued. The vital energies are limited, and when any 



General Theories. 107 

portion of them is expended in fretting over the tedious- 
ness of exercise, health and development are defrauded. 

In practising the exercises, care must be taken that only 
those muscles which are intended to be exercised are active, 
and that the others remain at rest. It is one of the aims of 
a perfect system of physical culture to so cultivate and con- 
trol the muscles that one part of the body can be used inde- 
pendently of the other parts, one set of muscles energized 
while the others " are devitalized. 

After exercise one should give the entire body a vigorous 
rubbing with a Turkish towel and change the garments next 
to the skin. 

In exercising it must be borne in mind that all any teacher 
can do is to furnish ideals and principles — the application 
rests with the pupil. 



VIII. 

CORRECT STANDING POSITION 

nPHE correct standing position, as shown in Figure i, 
"*■ seems to be slightly forward of a straight line, when in 
reality it is proven to be perpendicular, by the fact that it 
is the only position in which one can rise to the point of 
the toes, and come down in the original position, without 
swaying backward out of line. 

Most persons feel at first as if they were out of balance, 
and — as they are often heard to exclaim — about to pitch 
forward. 

This feeling of uncertainty comes from the fact that the 
centre of gravity is entirely changed in taking the correct 
standing position from what has been habitual. Most per- 
sons stand more upon the heels than upon the balls of the 
feet, when in point of fact the correct position demands 
that the balance of one's weight should be carried firmly 
upon the balls. Elasticity and grace of carriage are impos- 
sible while the body is resting heavily upon the heels. 

In the correct standing position the chest is raised, the 
chin slightly drawn in, the abdomen held well back, and 



FlGURK 1. 



Coin^ect Standing Positio7i. 1 1 1 

the crown of the head in a position to cany steadily any 
object that might be placed upon it. 

When the correct position is at first assumed there is a 
strong pull upon the muscles of the chest, back, calves of 
the legs, and under the knees. Fatigue and soreness are 
often the result,. but this is not a cause for alarm, for with 
the continued practise of the position this first unpleasant 
consciousness will disappear. All are aware of the fact, that 
if one were to bend her arm, and carry it bent for some 
time the muscles would become contracted, and on trying 
to straighten the arm the effort would be attended by 
soreness. The same thing happens to other parts of the 
body on assuming the correct position after the incorrect 
position has become habitual. If one has rested the weight 
upon the heels, and thrown the shoulders back, the muscles 
of the back will be contracted, and affected by the change 
in position. 

A strain will also be felt in consequence back of the knees, 
for when the weight is on the heels the knees are invariably 
bent and the muscles contracted. The muscles of the balls 
of the feet through disuse become restricted, and when the 
centre of gravity and the point of action is changed to the 
balls of the feet cramps may ensue, but faithful practise of the 
movements set forth in the chapter on poising exercises will 
take the painful twists out of the muscles at the same time 



112 Correct Standing Position. 

that they give lightness and elasticity ot step. If the for- 
ward stooping position is habitual, much weariness will be 
felt in the chest muscles upon assuming the correct position. 
In raising the chest the head becomes well poised and 
the ugly curve which is commonly seen at the back of 
the neck disappears. This part of the spine is often bowed 
to the point of deformity, but it may be remedied if one 
will bestow a little attention upon the carriage of the chest 
and iiead. 

I am often asked how long it will take to overcome the 
feeling of awkwardness in changing to the correct standing 
position, for it must be admitted that one does at first feel 
painfully self-conscious in the effort to hold the chest erect 
and balance the body in the straight line. To this there 
is but one answer — it all depends upon how faithfully the 
student devotes herself to the thought of conquering the 
exercise. 

Self-consciousness is always awkwardness, and until one 
can take the position without bestowing thought upon it, she 
will be awkward. Some will acquire the position and lose 
consciousness of the change in a few weeks, while others 
will require months. 

The more the exercise is practised, the quicker the desired 
result will follow. 







Figure 2. 



IX. 

POISING EXERCISES. 

T N this chapter a series of poising exercises are given. In 
establishing poise a source of health and power is created. 
Poise is control, and means health of muscular and nervous 
systems. While poise shows an ability to control nerve-force, 
erratic movements and unsteadiness of poise are indica- 
tive of an inability to control its waste — they are the action 
of the vital force moving without command of the will, or in 
opposition to it. Any spasmodic, jerky movement, means an 
unnecessaiy expenditure of vital power. Keeping the body 
in a tension when there is nothing to be accomplished is 
a prolific source of exhaustion and disease, for when vi- 
tality is expended as fast as it is generated there is no accu- 
mulation or reserve force. The vitality which most per- 
sons use in telling labor is much less than that exhausted 
out of season and to no purpose. We wear out long before 
our time because we exhaust our force in nervous action. 
How many persons there are who are always in such a hurry 
that they " cannot stop a minute " to answer a question 



1 1 6 Poising Exercises. 

rationally, and yet will spend a whole hour in breathless, 
excited narration of their haste, and feel perfectly satisfied 
with what they have accomplished, simply because they have 
expended nervous energy. Such persons are very tiresome. 
It would be well for them to consider the demand they 
unconsciously make upon other people's forces. The annoy- 
ance or irritation of a process of nervous exhaustion going 
on in one person is transmitted to others. This is the rea- 
son that nervous people repel rather than charm. On the 
other hand, those whose movements are full of subtle 
grace and repose are most restful. It is only now and the 
that we meet such persons — persons whose physical under- 
standing has refined emotion into subtlety. The world is in 
such a rush that it does not stop to consider the conser- 
vation of force and the luxury of repose. The majority of 
people seem to think that the more excited they become the 
more they are accomplishing. When one is cultivating the 
ability to move quietly, and to sit without moving hands 
and feet, in a position of ease and quiet, she is charging 
the nerve-centres with vitality and developing power. When 
one is cultivating repose she is also cultivating the habit 
of deep breathing, and thereby increasing the supply of 
oxygen to muscles, nerves, and brain. Nervous people 
always breathe hurriedly, for any excitement of the nerve- 
centres quickens the breath — this is shown in anger or fear. 




Figure 3. 



Poising Exercises. • 1 1 9 



EXERCISES. 

Having assumed the correct standing position, rise slowly 
and firmly upon both feet as high as possible. 

At first it will be found difficult to hold one's self for any 
time upon the balls of the feet, and even more difficult, if not 
absolutely impossible, upon the point of the toes, but daily 
practise will soon strengthen the muscles of the legs, ankles 
and feet, and it will not be many weeks before the student 
will be able to stand firmly and without effort in the raised 
position shown in Figure 2. In bringing the body into 
position do not allow the weight to settle back upon 
the heels. 

This exercise having been acquired, practise the same 
movement with the weight resting upon one foot. But be- 
fore rising on the toe perform the following exercise: 

Having secured the correct standing position, lift one foot 
from the floor into the position shown in Figure 3, then 
swing it downward and backward as indicated by the dotted 
line. Repeat this movement several times, retaining the 
weight firmly on one foot without allowing the body to sway, 
and without touching the active foot to the floor. 

This exercise is primarily for securing a steady poise of 
the body, and, secondarily, for freeing the muscles of the 



I20 • Poising Exercises. 

knees. The student should give careful attention to this 
movement, as it forms the basis of several of the succeeding 
exercises. 

Figure 4 shows the position from which the body should 
be swayed forward and backward from the ankles without 
bending the knees. This is a difficult but important exer- 
cise in establishing poise, and like the rising exercise, should 
be practised at first upon both feet, afterward upon one foot. 

The movement shown in Figure 2, taken several times in 
quick succession, is an excellent exercise for developing the 
calves of the legs, and for improving circulation in the feet. 
At first one should not take it more than ten times in succes- 
sion. But after a few days the number of times may be in- 
creased to fifteen and so on, by slow stages, until one can 
take it one hundred times without feeling greatly fatigued. 

In all of the foregoing exercises drop the hands, with the 
arms bent at the elbows and extended upon an active chest. 
With this position of the hands one is more apt to keep the 
chest active than when they are allowed to hang at the 
sides. 




Figure 4. 



X. 

BENDING EXERCISES. 

"T^RACTICE of the first two movements suggested in this 
chapter will, if properly followed, give poise to the 
body, strengthen and develop the muscles of the back, and 
lend flexibility to those portions of the body brought into 
sympathetic action by the exercise. Rapidity of action in 
these exercises will yield a certain degree of animal vitality, 
but precision and care are necessary in obtaining the best 
results. 

Figure 5 shows the correct position of the body with the 
arms extended upward to their fullest capacity. The line 
in which the hands and arms should be carried downward 
toward the floor is also indicated, showing the body to be 
bent immediately below the floating ribs. This exercise pro- 
duces a pulling sensation which often amounts to actual 
pain in the middle of the back and legs under the knees. 

Although no evil effects follow the pain, it is always well 
to begin any exercise gently, and it is imperative to excel- 
lence in the practice that time enough should be taken with 
each movement to secure continuity and grace. At first 



124 Bending Exercises. 

the student will find it difficult, if not impossible, to touch 
the floor with the tips of the fingers, but daily practice will 
soon make it an easy matter; and occasionally a student 
develops such flexibility that it is possible to bend forward 
and lay the palms of the hands flat upon the floor. 

This exercise must be practised with the knees unyieldi7ig\ 
all bending must be at the waist line and hips. In coming 
back into the correct standing position, after the vitalized 
movement of bending and stretching the muscles, allow the 
head to fall forward upon the chest, the arms to swing easily 
at the sides, and, as the body regains its normal position, the 
head should follow easily and naturally, thus keeping in 
mind the law of succession, which is also a law of grace. 

This same exercise should be practised both to the right 
and left sides. Bend the body easily 'at the point below the 
ribs, allowing the arms to swing lifelessly; bend as far to the 
right, and again to the left, as possible, keeping the legs firmly 
poised. 

In the next exercise, illustrated in Figure 6, the arms are 
raised above the head to their fullest extent, as shown in 
Figure 5, and the body is turned a little toward the right, 
while the feet are retained in the front position. When this 
attitude has been properly taken, carry the hands out ward 
and downward toward the floor. Bend at the point imme- 
diately below the floating ribs, and also at the hips, but keep 




Figure 5. 



Bending Exercises. 129 

the knees flat. As the arms begin to move, drop the head 
into a lifeless position upon the chest. Bend as far forward 
as possible without moving the knees, and place a hand at 
either side of the right foot. (This is the attitude given in 
Figure 6.) Hold this position for four seconds; next, allow 
the whole body to become devitalized. With the arms 
swinging lifelessly and the head dropped upon the chest, 
slowly raise the body to an erect position. The head 
should not be lifted until the chest has been elevated to 
the highest point and the rest of the body naturally and 
gracefully poised. Turn the body toward the left, and 
repeat the movement. 

The foregoing exercises have been adapted from a West 
Point practice. 

For the exercise shown in Figure 7, take a good stand- 
ing position ; then, with the palm of the hand turned 
upward and the elbow straight, lift the right arm until it 
reaches a perpendicular. Next, let the hand fall lifelessly 
over the head and bend the elbow, then drop the head 
upon the left shoulder, and bend the body toward the 
right side until the ribs and hip-bone touch. Perform the 
entire exercise without moving below the waist-line, and 
with the knees flat. Hold this position four seconds, then 
in slow succession raise the body to an erect position, 
lift the head, straighten the arm, and carry it down to the 



130 Bending Exercises. 

side. While the arm is moving, keep the elbow stiff and 
the palm of the hand up. Reverse this movement. 

The movement shown in Figure 8 is especially valuable 
in strengthening the pelvic region. Having assumed a good 
standing position, raise the elbows to a level with the 
shoulders, rest the tips of the fingers lightly on the chest, 
drop the head upon the back, and bend at the waistline, 
at a point halfway between the side and the centre of the 
back, counting four; bend the knees — count four. Slowly 
lift the body into position, first straightening the knees, 
then lift from the waist, and lastly, poise the head slowly. 
Retain both feet in a flat position upon the floor throughout 
the exercise. In performmg this movement great care must 
be taken not to bend at the centre of the back. Many 
persons recommend this backward movement, but I do not, 
for few persons take it with the necessary care and pre- 
cision, and serious injury to the spine and nervous system 
frequently results from practising incorrectly. I have, there- 
fore, come to regard it as a dangerous exercies. In taking 
the movement just explained, a strong muscular tension will 
be felt in the abdomen and on either side of the spinal 
column ; but if one should feel a pain in the small of the 
back she may be sure that the bend is too near the spine, 
and should immediately change to a side-back position. 

Reverse this exercise. 




Figure 7. 




Fjgure 8- 



XI. 

ELONGATING EXERCISES. 

TN this chapter a series of elongating exercises are given, 
so called because they tend to lift the body and elongate 
every part. 

Many persons claim that it is impossible to go without a 
corset and not look unsightly, and in vindication of this 
assertion will point to some figure which is positively vulgar 
in its uncomeliness, and cry: "Behold, an uncorseted fig- 
ure !" They do not take into consideration the fact -that 
such a one is the result of ignorance or indolence. If one 
will remove the corset and practise the succeeding exercises, 
together with correct carriage, correct and artistic proportions 
of the body will be secured and maintained. It is not 
necessary for one to become larger about the waist than 
she is about the bust, and I have no sympathy for one who 
is so — unless it be the result of ignorance. The reason that 
so many women grow large about the waist when they leave 
off the corset is because they indulge a habit of sitting and 
standing in an indolent manner, which allows the body to 
settle, and causes the muscles about the waist to constantly 



136 Elongating Exercises. 

distend, and the waist to enlarge continually. By holding 
the body erect, and taking these exercises which lift the 
chest, the waist will become round and shapely. A perfect 
waist is not an approximation to a wasp's outline, but one 
so well proportioned and shapely that it does not impress 
one by its size. 

The elongating exercises are also for the cultivation of 
poise. I trust that I have dwelt sufficiently upon the value 
of poise in establishing health and power, to impress upon 
my readers the necessity for performing the exercises with 
slowness and precision. 

In the first elongating exercise the right arm and left 
leg are raised at their respective sides in such a way that 
a diagonal line running from side to side would pass from 
the right hand to the left foot, as shown in Fig. 9. To 
secure this position hold the body erect, and poise the weight 
on the right foot, raise the left foot from the floor and swing it 
by bending the leg at the knee and throwing force into the 
thigh. Swing the foot in a circular movement from front 
to back, and vice versa to four 'counts ; -this will give four 
oscillations. Next touch the toe of the left foot to the 
hollow of the right (do not turn the toe in to give the 
appearance of a club-foot, but raise the foot gracefully, and 
in such a way that the tip of the toe will just touch the 
floor, and the heel will rest on the instep of the right 




Figure 9. 



Elongating Exercises. 139 

foot), then extend the left foot toward the side as far as 
possible without moving the body — the toes will be in 
line, but the weight of the body must be retained on the 
right foot. This position of the legs is well represented 
by the perpendicular and hypothenuse of a right-angle 
triangle. Next throw force into the arm and foot, and 
strike the line shown in the illustration ; press outward 
against an imaginary weight with the palm of the hand, and 
downward with the foot. At the same time that the arm 
moves out and the leg up, the head should move in oppo- 
sition to the arm, i. e.^ toward the left shoulder. Hold this 
position four seconds, and then slowly return the arm, head, 
and leg to position simultaneously. Do not allow the foot 
to touch the floor before the arm reaches its position. The 
arm will have to pass through a greater space than the leg, 
and must therefore move more rapidly. The count for this 
exercise is very important, and is as follows : Swing, count 
four, touch toe to the hollow, one ; extend foot, two ; raise 
arm, three ; throw force into hand and foot, four ; hold, four ; 
to position, eight. Reverse this exercise. 

In the next exercise the diagonal line is from front to 
back. Poise the weight on the right foot, swing the left, 
touch the heel of the left in the hollow of the right, advance 
the left foot at an angle of 45° without allowing the body 
to move; next change the weight of the body forward on to 



140 Elongating Exercises. 

the left foot by bending the left knee, and straighten the 
right with both feet flat on the floor ; next lift the body to 
its full height by straightening the left knee and raising the 
heel of the right foot from the floor, then raise the left arm 
forward at an angle of 45°, with the hand lifeless, carry the 
arm up and back until the wrist touches the head, then 
throw force into the left hand and the right foot, and press 
an imaginary weight with hand and foot. At the same time 
that the hand is thrown out and the foot up, the head should 
move in opposition to the arm, i. e., back. Hold this posi- 
tion four seconds and then return to position slowly, allowing 
the right foot to come forward to the left foot. At the end 
of the exercise the body will have advanced one step from 
where it stood at the beginning of the exercise. The count 
for this is as follows: Swing, count four; touch heel in the 
hollow, one; advance foot, two; weight forward and bend 
left knee, three; raise body to full height, four; raise arm, 
throw force into hand and foot, count four; hold, four; 
to position, eight. Reverse this exercise. 

The exercise given in Fig. 10, is in a diagonal line from 
back to front. Weight on the right foot, swing left, touch the 
heel of the left in the hollow of the right, advance the left 
foot at an angle of 45° without allowing the body to move, 
raise the right arm forward with the hand lifeless, carry the 
arm up and back as far as possible, do not allow the elbow to 




Figure 10. 



Elongating Exercises. 143 

bend, throw force into the left foot and right arm, with the 
palm of the hand up, press against an imaginary weight, and 
at the same time press down with the foot. Hold this posi- 
tion four seconds, then return to position slowly, bringing the 
arm down in front with elbow rigid. Swing, count four; 
touch heel in the hollow, one; advance foot, two; raise arm 
and leg, three ; throw force into hand and foot, four ; hold, 
four; to position, eight. Reverse this exercise. 

It may seem as though the description of the foregoing 
exercises are too explicit, but I feel that they are not, for 

unless these exercises be performed with precision they will 
avail one nothing. 



XII. 

DIAPHRAGMATIC AND ABDOMINAL 
EXERCISES. 

TV TO exercises are more immediate in beneficial results 
than those which affect the diaphragm, since through 
it the vital organs are reached at once. At the same time 
that the diaphragm is thrilled with new life the intercostal 
muscles and yellow elastic fibres of the pulmonary tissue 
are influenced. Correct habits of breathing, gracefulness of 
motion, health and beauty, depend upon the proper devel- 
opment of organs whose free movement can be maintained 
or secured only by healthful conditions and intelligent 
exercise. There is no organ in the body whose free move- 
ment is more important than the heart, and it is by giving 
strength and character to the action of the draphragm that 
the freedom essential to its healthful action is induced. 

Diseases of the liver result from a lack of exercise, and 
pulmonary difficulties are traceable to inactivity of the mus- 
cles which support the vital organs of the stomach. The 
solar plexus, the most sensitive nerve-centre of the body, 
can become so affected by the action of the circulatory 
system that its influence will extend to the brain as well 



(^^- 




Figure 11. 



Diaphragmatic and Abdominal Exercises. 147 

as the body, and most horrible forms of nervous dyspepsia, 
with all its kindred evils, are caused through lack of power 
in those organs which produce in large quantities prin- 
ciples which create phosphatic life. Through the action of 
the diaphragm every organ in the thorax can be quickened 
and stimulated. 

It is by the action of the waist and intercostal muscles 
that the chest is lifted into proper position, and by freedom 
at this point that natural resources are developed by which 
every organ is enabled to perform its function. It is impossi- 
ble to walk well without diaphragmatic freedom, for the 
organs must be in natural position before ease and grace of 
movement can be attained. 

Muscles must be firm, elastic, and reactionary before the 
body can be expressive of grace. 

Before learning how to walk gracefully, one must learn 
how to stand, to poise, to bend, and to breathe. The res- 
piratory muscles must be developed before they fully 
respond to any attempt at inflation. 

Inhalation and exhalation are the powers by which 
diseased organs are freed from poisonous matter, and nat- 
ural functions strengthened and developed. When organs 
become malposed or congested from inaction, breathing 
is attended with difficulty, and nervous prostration, indiges- 
tion, and serious abdominal troubles ensue. 



148 Diaphragmatic and Abdominal Exercises. 

By freeing and bringing into action the muscles at the 
waist renewed life is given to all bodily functions. The 
heart, kidneys, liver, and digestive organs are stimulated 
through the same influences that send with new force pure, 
bright blood through delicate vessels which have hitherto been 
loaded with venous blood. The muscles of the trunk, the 
tissues of which become so degenerated from want of use as 
to be finally lost, are greatly strengthened by the practise 
of diaphragmatic gymnastics. Serious cases of kidney dis- 
ease have also been cured by such practice, and backs 
almost paralyzed with lameness have been restored to health 
and made permanently strong. 

The abdominal muscles are very important. When strong 
they aid the stomach, liver, kidneys, and bowels in perform- 
ing their functions, and assist in preventing disorders of the 
stomach and bowels; they help to draw the body forward, 
and the legs upward. When lying down one could not lift 
the body to a sitting posture without the aid of these 
muscles, in fact, the body could not be held in an upright 
position were they to become paralyzed; the act of walking 
could not be performed without them; they are important 
factors in correct breathing, and they also exert an influence 
over the uterus, for anything which strengthens the abdom- 
inal muscles tends to sustain the uterus. When considering 
their varied functions it will readily be seen that it is impor- 




Figure 12. 



Diciphragmatic and Abdominal Exercises. 151 

tant to make and keep them strong by the daily practise of 
exercise adapted to their needs. 

Other things being equal the carriage of the individual 
is greatly improved by toning up the abdominal muscles. 
Probably no set of muscles exert a greater influence over the 
different funct? Dns of the body than do these. The diaphragm 
acts in unison with the abdominal muscles, and exercises 
which strengthen and invigorate one tone up the other. 

With the majority of women the muscles of the pelvic 
region, through disuse and restriction, have become weak 
and flaccid, and much judicious exercise is needed to restore 
vigor to the muscles and power to the organs. The exer- 
cises in this chapter should be carefully practised by persons 
who are inclined to grow abdominous, for they invigorate 
and tone up the distended muscles which produce the 
unsightly protruding abdomen. I do not hesitate to say 
that, unless there be some serious organic trouble, it is not 
necessary for any woman to become abdominous, if she will 
take pains to secure a correct carriage, exercise freely and 
in a proper manner, and clothe the body hygienically. No 
woman who will insist upon wearing a corset and weighting 
the hips with heavy skirts need hope to derive much benefit, 
for the good effect of the exercise will be counteracted by 
the pressure which constantly distends the muscles and 
pushes the organs down and out of place. 



152 Diaphragmatic and Abdominal Exercises. 

The exercise known as the torso circle is one of the most 
efficacious of the diaphragmatic movements. In this exercise 
the diaphragm fairly whips the vital organs into action. 
When properly taken, such great pressure is brought to bear 
upon stomach, liver, and the other organs that the sluggish 
blood is diverted from these parts, and then courses back 
with renewed vigor. This exercise is an invaluable aid to 
digestion, as well as an excellent motor to the liver. It is one 
of the few movements which can be taken with impunity — 
even with beneficial results — immediately after eating ; the 
reason for this is, that during the exercise, as during the 
process of digestion, the blood is directed to the stomach and 
other digestive organs in large quantities, propelling it 
with greater force. During the exercise the body below 
the waist is perfectly straight, and the upper portion of the 
torso moves round on the lower portion without changing the 
front position below the waist-line, this line forming the pivot. 
In Figure 11 the dotted line indicates the circular direction of 
the movement from front to side, from side to back, from 
back to the opposite side, and then to the front position. It 
is believed that by faithful practise of the exercises given 
in previous chapters, the student will appreciate the fact 
that the correct poise has been established, and need not be 
reminded that the body should be properly poised before 
the movement is undertaken. For the benefit of anyone who 



\. 




Diaphragmatic and Abdominal Exercises. 157 

has possibly not caught my idea, I will suggest that the 
pupil assume the position described by Figure i. This 
exercise, as will be seen at a glance, is best executed with 
arms akimbo and the thumbs forward, an attitude beneficial in 
assisting the hips to retain a firm forward position. The 
figure should be inclined forward at the waist line without 
allowing the hips to move or the knees to bend. If correctly 
taken, a firm grip will be felt at the pit of the stomach, and 
a glow will pervade the entire trunk. Next roll the upper 
part of the body, as indicated by the circle given in the 
illustratration, allowing the head to move with the body. 
This movement will avail the pupil nothing unless performed 
with the utmost precision — moving carefully and gradually, 
not suddenly and violently jerking the head and trunk. 
The back and abdominal muscles are also greatly strength- 
ened and devoloped by this exercise. 

The succeeding exercise, illustrated in Figure 12, is the 
reverse of the foregoing one, the lower portion of the torso 
moving in a circle while the upper portion remains stationar^^, 
the waist line, as in the previous exercise, forming the pivot. 
In this exercise the arms should be raised, and the hands 
drop lightly on the chest. The hip is first throw^n out by 
settling the weight on one foot and bending the knee of 
the opposite leg, both feet resting flatly on the floor. This 
position is the indolent one which school girls so often 



158 Diaphragmatic and Abdominal Exercises. 

assume in standing. The hips are next thrown back with- 
out allowing the body to rise, then to the opposite side, 
then directly forward. This last portion of the movement 
is the incorrect and grotesque position which is almost 
universal in standing. The weight is upon the heels, the 
knees are slightly bent, and the ' abdomen protruded. At 
first the pupil will find it difficult to assume the different 
positions given in this exercise without lifting the body, 
and thus alternately straightening and bending the knees. 
But with practice the rigid muscles will gradually yield, 
and she will be enabled to slowly and gradually form a 
circle with the hips, and not jerk them about as in her 
first efforts. This exercise is especially adapted to 
strengthening the pelvic region. It is also an excellent 
movement for freeing the waist muscles which play an 
important part in graceful carriage. 

The four following exercises are specially good for persons 
troubled with dyspepsia or constipation, and they are also 
excellent for uterine troubles, but they are among the heavi- 
est movements given in the series, and should be practised 
with great care at first. Do not take any of them more 
than three times in one day, until such a time as there is 
a conscious strengthening of the muscles and organs. 

Lie flat upon the floor with face up; keep the arms 
down and straight at the sides, and do not use them as levers 



Diaphragmatic and Abdominal Exercises. i6i 

in raising the body. Stretch the body to its full length, 
extending the instep. With the feet together lift the legs to 
a perpendicular position as shown in Figure 13. Keep the 
knees flat, and do not allow the body or arms to rise. One 
can lift the legs but slightly at first, but with each effort 
the elevation will be increased until the legs can assume a 
perfect perpendicular. Hold the position for a few seconds, 
and then slowly return the legs to position, keeping the feet 
together and the legs straight. 

In the exercise illustrated in Figure 14, the first position 
is the same as in Figure 13, but the movement is reversed, 
the upper portion of the body being brought into action 
mstead of the lower. Place the toes under a dressing-case, 
or some other heavy piece of furniture which will prevent 
them from rising. With the hands at the sides or clasped 
under the head (it is more difficult to perform the exercise 
with the hands in the latter position) tiy to lift the body to 
a sitting posture as shown in the illustration. Slowly 
return the body to the supine position. The more slowly 
the exercise is taken the more efficacious will it prove. Do 
not under any circumstances take it in a jerky manner, for 
the spasmodic movement might result in serious injuries. 
It is far better to rise but slightly and move slowly than to 
bring the body to an upright position by means of a quick, 
jerky action. 



1 62 Diaphragmatic and Abdominal Exercises. 

In Figure 15 the body is represented as lying across a 
bench or couch so that the waist-line is at the middle 
of the bench. Catch the feet under a piece of furniture 
as in the preceding exercises. Place the arms akimbo, then 
lift the head and upper portion of the trunk up and back. 
Hold this position for a few seconds and then slowly return 
the body to its former position. This movement strengthens 
and develops the muscles of the chest as well as the 
abdominal muscles. 

The exercise given in Figure 16 is performed in the 
following way. Hold the body erect and poise the weight 
on the right foot and swing it by bending the leg at the 
knee and throwing force into the thigh. Swing the foot 
in a circular movement from front to back, and vice versa 
to four counts. Touch the heel of the left foot in the 
hollow of the right, advance the left foot at an angle of 45° 
without allowing the body to move ; next change the weight 
of the body forward onto the left foot by bending the left 
knee and straightening the right; keep both feet flat on the 
floor; place the arms akimbo. Keeping the front knee bent 
and the back leg stiff at the knee, bend as far forward 
as possible in a bowing motion, bending only at the hips ; 
next straighten the body and allow it to go backward as 
far as possible, bending at the waist-line and throwing the 
head back. Repeat this several times. Reverse. 




Figure 16. 



Diaphragmatic and Abdomifial Exercises. 165 

The next exercise is not illustrated. Hold the body- 
erect and poise the weight on the right foot; raise the 
left foot from the floor and bend the knee as muth -as 
possible. Throw the leg up and try to hit the chest with 
the thigh, keeping the body straight, so as not allow it to 
bend forward to meet the knee. Reverse. 

The last exercise is excellent for strengthening the 
muscles of the back and for keeping the abdominal mus- 
cles in good condition, but it is a movement which should 
not be practised by those who are weak and suffering 
from organic troubles. 



XIII. 

THE HAND AND ARM. 

"T^ROM earliest time the hand has been considered by- 
many a potent agent in indexing character. As 
the face and head have had their physiognomists and phren- 
ologists so the hand has had its chiromancers, who have 
claimed that by looking at its lines they could read char- 
acter and foretell one's fate. Among the names of those 
who have laid bare their palms, and invited the scrutiny of 
the palmister, are to be found many of the ablest generals, 
rulers and financiers of all times. Whether or not it be 
true that the lines of the hand reveal the secret of dis- 
position and fortune, it certainly cannot be denied that the 
hand is a wonderful and effective servant of the intellect 
and emotions. As a machine its mechanism. is most simple, 
at the same time that its workings are universal, and it is 
only when we consider that the most intricate and perfect 
machine ever invented can perform but a limited number 
of the innumerable things done by the hand that we 
begin to comprehend the magnitude of its workings. 
Ray says : " Some animals have horns, some hoofs, some 



The Hand and Arm, 167 

talons, some claws, some ^purs, some beaks ; man hath 
none of these, but is weak and feeble and sent unarmed 
into the world. Why? A hand with reason to use 
it supplies the place of all these." The hand serves 
man equally in the differing capacities of a machine, a 
weapon of defence, and an interpreter of his thoughts and 
emotions. The language of the hand is a natural and 
therefore a universal language. While speech is under- 
stood only by those using the language of that speech, 
the expression of the hand is common to and understood by 
all humanity, and it is most interesting to note the individual 
idiosyncrasies of thought and character as expressed in the 
action of the hand, as in the case of hand-shaking. In no 
act is one's individuality more subtly reflected than in the 
performance of this simple and common ceremony of 
social courtesy. 

Probably all of my readers have experienced the divers 
sensations produced by this form of greeting, but few have 
attempted to trace them to their hidden sources. There is 
the person who conforms to this act of social courtesy with 
a turbulent energy that is painful, and the one who gives 
the disappointing, listless touch of indifference. One gin- 
gerly offers the finger-tips in condescension, and another 
extends the receptive hand which takes, but does not give 
a generous pressure and hearty clasp. There is the 



1 68 The Hand and Arm, 

"fishy clasp" of the modern Uriah Heep, and the friendly- 
hand open to receive and generous to give of its bounding 
vitality, whose touch imparts a thrill of kindly kinship and 
establishes a mutual sympathy between the best character- 
istics of the persons meeting. If the latter effect is not 
produced, this form of greeting might better be dispensed 
with, for to shake hands with a person whose magnetism is 
opposed and irritating to yours is not only offensive but 
detrimental. Again, character can be studied in connection 
with the position of the fingers, for most persons show 
their real character in the carriage of the hand, which 
is habitual with them. The acquisitive person usually 
carries the hand with the fingers and thumbs curled in as 
if grasping something, and the expression "close-fisted," 
while intended to apply a moral characteristic of the indi- 
vidual, is a literal description of the bodily condition which 
accompanies this trait of character. The lifeless, apathetic 
person narrows the hand by carrying the fingers closely 
together and the thumb pressed to the hand while the vital, 
magnetic person separates the fingers and turns the thumb 
out. When the hand assumes a perfectly natural position 
independently of moral characteristics, the fingers become 
slightly separated and curved, and the thumb, which is car- 
ried out from the fingers, does not bend and form an angle. 
The natural, graceful hand is made up of curves. The most 



The Hand and Arm. 169 

beautifully shaped hand in the world can be made to look 
unshapely and awkward by bending the thumb and fingers 
so as to introduce angles, while the most unshapely can 
be much improved and rendered comparatively attractive if 
used in a natural manner. No agent of the body can be 
made more effective than the hand, through proper care 
and cultivation. Balzac says: "Men of superior intellect 
nearly always have beautiful hands, the perfection of which 
is the distinctive indication of a high destination." It is 
said that the only point of beauty Madame de Stael 
possessed was an exquisite hand, whose subtle power she 
recognized, and whose grace she displayed by always toy- 
ing^ a flower or twicr. The hand should be relaxed when 
in repose, and allowed to assume an easy, natural position. 
The habit of straining the muscles and cords of the hand 
when not in active use is alike ruinous to beauty and 
destructive of reposeful expression. 

When the hand is in a tension the blood is drawn to 
it, the veins become enlarged, making the hand look red 
and unattractive. Oftentimes red hands are simply the 
result of misplaced force, and can be made white and 
attractive by cultivating a habit of relaxation. Bending the 
thumb to the point of deformity is the fault most noticeable 
and general in connection with the carriage of the hand, 
and the one which should be most carefully guarded against. 



lyo The Hand and Arm, 

In moving the hand to express a sensation, or emphasize a 
thought, the wrist should always lead the hand, for when 
the hand leads the wrist the movement is most awkward 
and partakes of the nature of a poke rather than of a ges- 
ture. Studied gesture should be avoided, but a hand and 
arm trained in graceful motion by the daily practice of 
simple exercises will lend themselves unconsciously to 
graceful and convincing expression. In a graceful move- 
ment of the hand and arm the action is based upon the law 
of succession. Nowhere in nature is this law more perfectly 
exemplified than in the sinuous movement of the snake, 
where the action continues in successive waves throughout 
the entire length of the body. 

In the movement of the arm and hand the action 
should be successively from shoulder to fingers, a serpen- 
tine movement which passes joint by joint, muscle by 
muscle, through the arm, and is at last communicated to 
the hand, expanding and unfolding it by successive stages. 
During the practise of the following movements every part 
of the body should be well poised, but responsive, not 
rigid. Where there is grace, or unity and harmony of 
action for every movement of the arm and hand, there is a 
responsive movement of the head and chest — an action 
hardly perceptible to the eye, but subtly effective. 



m 



Figure 17. 



The Hand and Arm. 173 

EXERCISES. 

Having assumed a good position, lightly balance the 
weight of the body on the right foot and extend the left 
slightly at the side. Straighten the elbow, and let the hand 
fall limp, with the palm downward; next raise the arm and 
hand until the arm almost touches the head. At the same 
time that the arm rises the head moves slightly forward 
to meet it. To drav/ the arm downward the force is 
introduced into the shoulder and muscles of the upper 
arm, then passes to the elbow, then to the wrist, and 
lastly to the hand, expanding and opening it. As the 
arm moves downward the head moves back until it 
assumes the natural poise. 

Take the same exercise with the left arm while balanc- 
ing the weight on the left foot. 

Use both arms together, sustaining the weight on both 
feet, with heels together. 

Alternate the movement of the hands. Raise the right 
arm while lowering the left, and vice versa ; always move 
the head forward to meet the ascending arm. 

Extend the arms in front on a level with the waist- 
line, place the palms of the hands together, the sides of the 
hands down, then move the arms outward laterally, then 
back to position; always make the wrist lead. 



174 The Hand and Arm. 

The same exercise can be taken with the backs of the 
hands toward each other instead of the palms. 

Bend the elbows and wrists and bring the arms back to 
the body, let the hands fall limp, with palms downward; 
then throw the hands back. This opens the palms 
upward; next extend the arms in front, palms forward, 
as if repelling something. As the arms move forward 
allow the chest to retreat; and as the arms move back, ex- 
tend the chest. 

Extend the arms in front, place the hands so that the 
back of one will be toward the palm of the other. Move 
both hands toward the right, then to the left, bending 
both wrists the same way. 

These serpentine movements admit of an almost infinite 
number of variations — with the palms up and the sides 
out, the palms down and the sides out, the hands moving 
in opposition, and the hands moving in the same direction. 
The pupil can vary them to suit herself, and as long as the 
movements are based upon the principles herein set forth 
they will have the desired result in the cultivation of 
the muscles and of graceful expression. 

The succeeding exercises are designated as arm move- 
ments, but at the same time that they affect the arms they 
also exert an influence over the muscles of the throat, neck, 
chest and bust. 




Figure 18. 



The Hand and Arm, 177 

Rotary Movement of the Arms. — Having placed the 
body in a good position with the arms relaxed, throw 
sufficient force into the shoulders to move the arms 
in the arc of the circle designated by the radii a, b, in 
Figure 17. When the momentum is so great that the 
arms seem to move by their own weight, raise the arms to 
the sides of the head until they are perpendicular, then let 
them swing back into position. After getting control of 
the shoulders the arms should be made to describe a circle, 
as shown in the illustration. At first the movement will 
be rather more of an ellipse than a circle, but with prac- 
tise it will be possible to approach very nearly to a cir- 
cular motion. The effect of this exercise will be to 
increase the flexibility of the shoulder joints, to strengthen 
the respiratory muscles, and to widen the thorax. 

The next movement is called a dumb-bell exercise. Out- 
stretch the arms and raise them laterally to the level of 
the shoulders, with the backs of the hands upward; clinch 
the hands and turn the palms upward, throwing force into 
the arms, and keeping the wrists straight; turn and revolve 
the arms several times. Do not allow the body to sway, 
but simply make it a movement of the arms. " 

The next exercise is for developing the pectoralis major 
(large muscle of the chest). The almost universal habit 
of padding at this point — with both stout and thin women — 



178 The Hand ajtd Arm. 

attests the lack of development. If one is desirous of 
developing this part of the chest the padding must be 
removed, for it overheats and presses upon the muscle, 
diverting the blood from it, and preventing develop- 
ment. Outstretch the arms in front, and lift them to the 
level of the shoulders ; place the palms together, swing 
the arms back and touch the backs of the hands behind 
the body ; bear in mind that the backs should touch, not 
the sides of the hands. In carrying the hands back they 
will fall slightly, ' but an effort should be made to keep 
them as high as possible. Do not allow the body to move 
while taking this exercise. Swing the arms forward and 
back several times, slowly at first, but increase in rapidity 
at each stroke. When taken by children, this exercise 
lengthens the clavicle and broadens the shoulders. 

Three-count Movement. — Swing the arms back and 
round to a front position, as indicated by the dotted circle 
in Figure 18; extend the arms in front with palms down- 
ward, next turn the palms upward and clinch the hands, 
keeping the elbows straight; draw the arm back to the 
sides, with the hands still closed. 

Four-count Exercise. — Perform the three count move- 
ment, then extend the arms above the head, with the hands 
still closed; draw the arms down to the sides; extend them in 
front, with the palms down, hands over, and the fists clinched. 



The Hand and Arm. 179 

Repeat the last two movements several times, until the 
body begins to glow. In taking these exercises do not 
allow the body to sway. 

In the next exercise move the shoulders upward, back- 
ward, downward, and forward, but not in a jerky manner. 

The following exercise is for the biceps muscle. Raise 
the arms to a perpendicular position, close the hands and 
place the backs together. Carry the arms outward and 
downward, turn them constantly until they are reversed as 
far as possible, and the backs of the hands touch behind 
the body. Turn the palms out throughout the entire 
exercise. 

One of the best exercises for developing the muscles of 
the forearm consists in extending the hand as if aboyt to 
shake hands, and then curling the fingers in slowly as though 
grasping an object. A strong tension should be introduced 
into the fingers. This movement will be accompanied by a 
sympathetic action of the facial muscles, unless an effort be 
made to prevent it, which should always be done. 



XIV. 

VOCAL GYMNASTICS, THROAT, CHEST, 
AND BUST. 

TN this chapter I shall make an appeal for the practise of 
vocal gymnastics, as a valuable aid to perfect physical 
development. The proper use of the voice is a wonderful 
assistant in the upbuildment and development of the body. 
When the voice is used incorrectly there is a great waste of 
vital force, so intimate is the relation between the voice and 
the vital organs. When the voice is used forcibly and in a 
correct manner the vocal organs are strengthened, a healthy 
expansion is given to the chest, and through the diaphragm 
the vital organs are stimulated and their correct functions 
thoroughly established. 

Chronic sore throat is frequently produced by the misuse 
of the voice, and the tongue is often the root of this evil, as 
it is of many others. Irritation is often produced by push- 
ing the tongue so far back that it vibrates against the 



Throat, Chest and Bust. i8i 

delicate membrane of the throat. After a time the throat 
becomes irritated, and if the irritation be long continued 
ulcers form. The tongue should be kept down and ex- 
tended in speaking. Dr. C. W. Emerson, of the Monroe 
College of Oratory, requires his pupils to practise ver}^ 
light head tones and at the same time to depress the 
tongue into a hollow three-quarters of an inch back of 
its point in the natural position. He says that this is 
the dominant centre of the tongue and that in trying 
to control this point one draws it away from the throat. 
I have found this practise very efficacious, for in locat- 
mg consciousness at the back of the tongue one is apt 
to produce throat tones. I have known a case of throat 
trouble, which was so severe that the young woman suffer- 
ing from it was obliged to visit a physician daily and have 
her throat sprayed for several minutes, to be cured in one 
month by acquiring the proper control of her tongue. The 
process of irritation produced by the incorrect use of the 
voice is not always confined to the throat. It is often far- 
reaching in its evil effects, for the mucous membrane begins 
at the edge of the lips and continues through the nasal 
cavities into the lungs, stomach, and intestinal canal, and 
an irritation of one part is likely to be transmitted to other 
parts. 

The practise of a sound in imitation of the baying of a 



1 82 Vocal Gymnastics y 

hound is a potent exercise in strengthening the diaphragm 
and does much toward estabHshing resonance of tones. 
Laughing exercises should form an important part of a 
system of physical culture. It is a well known fact that 
laughing is a most beneficial exercise. It aids digestion 
and is conducive to good spirits. How infectious a merry 
rippling laugh is, and how delicious to the ear ! The soul 
expresses itself through the body, and there is a reflex 
action between the two. Laughing exercises create a 
healthy, happy feeling, and possesses a moral as well as a 
physical value. Laughter has a language of its own, it 
often reveals in the vowel which prevails the temper and 
character of the individual. Those who laugh in the Latin A 
are supposed to be open-hearted, honest persons ; those 
who laugh in an excessive, jerking way are usually vul- 
gar — unless the habit is acquired through association and 
imitation. A laugh in a dry A denotes a respectable but 
undemonstrative person. When the Latin E prevails a 
phlegmatic, melancholy temper prevails. Timorous, unsteady 
people, also malicious people, laugh in a swelling /; proud, 
bold, imperious, bantering persons laugh in 0, and those 
who laugh in 00 are often unreliable. 

While vocal gymnastics are of inestimable value in 
developing the muscles of the throat and chest, there are 
a few exercises which can be practised without the vocaliza- 



Throat, Chest and Bust. 183 

tion with most satisfactory results. To attain to the desired 
development one must sedulously practise deep breathing 
in connection with the movements. Beauty of chest and 
neck is impossible when the lungs are not properly used. 
Ninety-nine out of every one hundred women are either too 
restricted by their clothing or are too indolent to inspire air 
freely and fully. Is it any wonder then that we see so few 
attractive chests? Even in fleshy women we do not see the 
proper development — the chest over the apex of the lungs, 
instead of being expanded and developed, is usually rounded 
by adipose tissue. A neck covered with flabby flesh lacks 
character, and can hardly be said to be more beautiful than 
one which is emaciated. Excess of adipose tissue obliterates 
delicacy of contour and grace. That ruthless foe to woman's 
beauty — the flabby double chin — can be avoided by proper 
precautionary methods, exercising the throat-muscles freely, 
breathing correctly, and by using massage. Even after it 
has made its appearance much can be done to tone up the 
muscles and render it less prominent, if the subject be not 
too indolent. The best way to secure firmness and mus- 
cular rotundity of any part of the body is by means of 
active exercise ; but for certain parts massage can be 
resorted to in connection with voluntary exercise with most 
excellent results. 

Ordinarily the line from the point of the chin to the 



184 Vocal Gymnastics, 

neck forms a right angle. When the throat is shapely 
this line is a curve. Rising and sinking the larynx is the 
best exercise for developing the throat and reducing the 
angle. When the larynx moves downward the throat puffs 
out. This movement is accompanied by a forcible action 
of the tongue. In beginning this practice some persons 
find it almost impossible to move the larynx, but by 
persistent effort it can be accomplished and its action 
made subject to the will. An excellent exercise for filling 
up the hollows in the neck is by filling the lungs with 
air, and then holding it in the throat for a few seconds as 
it is forced upward by the diaphragm. 

The platysma myoides muscle which covers nearly the 
entire front of the neck, is flat and thin, and lies very near 
the surface. It is attached to the chin and lower jaw, and 
extends below the clavicle. By developing this muscle the 
neck and throat are rendered much more shapely and 
beautiful. 

The next two exercises are for expanding the chest and 
giving flexibility to the muscles. Place a hand on either 
side of the thorax with the fingers forward and press 
against the floating ribs. Move the ribs inward as much 
as possible, and then outward as far as possible. This 
exercise must be performed very slowly. In the next 
exercise place one hand upon the upper part of the chest. 



Throat, Chest and Bust. 185 

lorce the hand up and down by alternately raising and 
depressing the chest. In the last two movements do not 
think of the breath, but try to make the action as nearly 
muscular as possible. 

No figure can be perfect without a gracefully rounded 
bust, and the safest and surest way to develop this part of 
the body is to tone up the entire system. Weakness of 
any kind changes the contour of the figure and causes 
the bust to lose its roundness. One should exercise the 
entire muscular system to improve circulation, and take 
special exercise such as the backward and rotary arm 
movements. Breathing deeply and slowly increases the 
supply of oxygen and is the best tonic for the blood and 
consequently an excellent means for improving the bust. 

Bathing the bust with cold water night and morning 
stimulates the circulation and strengthens the muscles. 
Gentle massage used in connection with it assists gladular de- 
velopment, but the manipulation should be used with great 
care as in any treatment for the bust. It is very dangerous 
to tamper with this portion of the body, and the temer- 
ity with which many women resort to the use of "bust devel- 
opers " is appalling. Such things should never be called into 
requisition, for they very often produce tumors and cancers 
by their forcing process and invariably prove a source of 
annoyance and often injury. Even the liquids and ointments 



1 86 Vocal Gymnastics, etc. 

used for this purpose usually contain arsenic and other dele^ 
terious substances which simply inflate but do not develop. 
If one uses any application it should be of some pure oil 
to nourish the glands. While trying to develop the bosom 
pads should not be worn, for they press down upon and 
divert the blood from it. 



XV. 

CORRECT AND ELEGANT CARRIAGE. 

'T^HE question '*do you consider walking a healthful exer- 
cise," is often put to me by persons who are desirous 
of improving their physical conditions by any sort of rational 
means. Speaking from a general stand-point, I would nat- 
urally say yes, but experience has taught me that the ad- 
visability of any kind of exercise depends entirely upon the 
individual. As a rule walking is good exercise. But I 
should not unreservedly advise all persons to walk; it would 
be as absurd to say that all derive benefit from walking as 
it would to affirm that all can take cold plunge baths 
with impunity. 

In the matter of exercise, as in that of bathing and diet, 
one's, temperament and state of health must be taken into 
consideration. No two persons require exactly the same 
kind, and the same amount of exercise. Every one must 
be a law unto herself physically as well as mentally. As 
for walking, it is certainly good exercise for the majority 
of people. It takes one into the open air and bright sun- 



1 88 Correct and Elegant Carriage. 

light; it quickens the blood and brings into play many 
of the muscles of the chest, abdomen, arms and legs. 

To those endowed with even a minor degree of strength 
walking invariably brings an exhilaration which is not ex- 
perienced in driving. We must move our legs — must bring 
all our energies into play — if we would know that delightful 
glow which is the result of all exercise that is properly taken 
and enjoyed. But when I speak of walking as a healthful 
exercise I do not refer to the ambling, shambling gaits so 
frequently observed. The truth is, few persons realize the 
true delight of walking, and thus one of the most valuable 
of exercises is used simply as a means to an end. The 
individual who walks with dragging foot-steps little imagines 
what he is losing. A brisk, energetic step is the first re- 
quisite to the enjoyment of this exercise. Few persons 
walk for the sake of walking, but those who cultivate this 
natural form of locomotion are amply paid for their trouble. 
One who is accustomed to a daily walk in the open air can 
scarcely exist without it. Habituate yourself to a firm, elas- 
tic step ; hold your body erect, and see that you are pro- 
perly poised, if you would enjoy the fruits of this exercise. 

Few persons walk gracefully and in a manner conducive 
to health. One would be well repaid for giving considera- 
tion to the subject of standing and walking, and to such 
positions as would bring each part of the body into proper 



Correct and Elegant Carriage. 189 

relation and harmony with every other part. It is the pur- 
pose of this chapter to give a few suggestions, the daily 
practise of which will develop and train the muscles. The 
practise of graceful walking exercises will so cultivate the 
muscles of the body that after a time a dignified and easy 
carriage will become quite natural, and all of the agents of 
the body will be thus strengthened. But one cannot walk 
well until she has learned to stand correctly, therefore the 
standing position is the first thing to be considered. My 
readers are supposed to be acquainted with the rules of 
standing, but the correct position is of such vital importance 
that I think it necessary to call attention to it once more. 
The chest should be raised and extended, the body poised 
far enough forward to bring the centre of gravity over the 
balls of the feet, and the scapula flat. It is a generally 
accepted idea that to secure an erect carriage one must throw 
the head and shoulders back. This is fallacious. Such a 
movement gives to the shoulders a drooping appearance, 
throws the arms into a stiff, unattractive position, makes 
the scapula prominent, protrudes the abdomen, and expresses 
pomposity rather than dignity. When the chest is depressed 
the abdominal muscles are distended and the organs forced 
out of place. When the chest is raised the size of the 
abdomen is decreased, and the organs of the lower part of 
the body are rendered less liable to disease. 



190 Correct and Elegant Carriage. 

Prominent shoulder blades are usually the result of 
incorrect carriage, and by cultivating correct habits in 
standing they can be entirely overcome. In walking a 
free, easy position of the arms is much to be desired. 
They usually seem to be hugged in at the sides — this 
appearance resulting by directing a great deal of energy 
toward them and stiffening the elbows. In the correct 
position the arms are relaxed and hang easily from the 
shoulder, not held stiffly at any point, but following gently 
the natural motions of the body. After one has taken a 
good standing position, if she starts into motion with toes 
turned outward, the heels in a line, and the length of the 
step about twice the length of the foot, she will walk with 
ease and dignity, and no unnecessary strain will be brought 
to bear upon the spine and head. After a few weeks of 
practice, with the body in this position, one will be able 
to walk miles and not only not feel exhausted, but positively 
invigorated and strengthened. Severe backaches and head- 
aches are often the result of the popular mode of walking. 
From observation it does not seem exaggeration to say 
that nine out of every ten cases are caused or aggravated 
by it. The body is usually thrown back until the spine 
becomes curved like a bow, and the weight is thrown on to 
the heels with such force that every step brings the vertebrae 
of the spine into constant and violent concussion. 



Correct and Elegant Carriage. 191 

To move with self-possession and apparently without hurry, 
is a requisite of a high-bred, graceful walk. One cannot 
be said to have acquired the refinement of walking who 
travels at a rapid pace and. reaches her destination breath- 
less and excited. To walk at a fair pace, with the body 
thoroughly alive, and not to appear hurried, requires 
thought and practise, and is the acme of refined, highbred 
motion. 

Poising exercises are valuable aids in the cultivation of 
a graceful walk, for walking consists of a succession of 
poises. The weight is supported upon one foot u^til the 
centre of gravity is lost, and then the other foot is 
brought into action to sustain the weight of the body and 
keep it from falling forward. Bear in mind the fact that in 
correct walking the greater weight is thrown on the ball 
of the foot, and that the chest always leads the feet. 

I wish to make my meaning veiy clear at this point, for 
I am often asked if I mean that the toe should touch the 
ground before the heel. Correct walking results from 
stepping so that the toe shall fall upon the ground at nearly 
the same time as the heel, not before, and with the chest 
leading so prominently that a line dropped thence to the 
floor will fall to the toe, while a line dropped from the 
chest of a person who walks incorrectly would fall to the 
instep. Walking should not be, as it is with many per- 



192 Correct and Elegant Carriage, 

sons, a thrusting forward of the foot. Some persons throw 
the weight so far back and the toe so high, that the whole 
sole of the shoe is exposed to view. Such an awkward 
and pronounced movement cannot fail to call attention to 
the feet. With such total disregard of the laws of hygiene 
as the ordinary walk reveals, it is not surprising that men 
and women are victims of dyspepsia, kidney disease, and 
numberless other ailments directly traceable to incorrect 
positions of the bodily organs. The cramped position of 
the lungs, the disarrangement of organs at the waist and 
abdomen, and the false position of the hip are the cause of 
much of the disease incident to women. Even the leisurely 
woman of wealth, with ambition and opportunity to be 
attractive, walks with the same absence of ease and free- 
dom noticeable in the gait of her hard-working sisters. 
The very effort that the former makes to walk erect gives 
the same rigidity to muscle and movement that is caused 
in the latter case by severe toil. Others seek to acquire 
freedom by a general movement of the entire body, with 
the result of presenting a jerkiness that cannot but be 
distressing to a looker-on. Still others who have some- 
where heard that all movement in walking should be from 
the hips, move along with a rolling gait suggestive of a 
sailor recently on shore. Much of the ungraceful motion 
which we see is directly traceable to the awkward positions 



Correct and Elegant Carriage. 193 

of the feet. One person walks with the toes thrown directly 
forward, another with the toes turned very far out ; another 
with one foot directly forward while the other is turned 
outward ; still another walks with a broad base. The latter 
position gives a very ugly swinging motion. 

While it is true that faulty bearing is not peculiar to any 
especial class or section of the country, but usually argues 
want of muscular power, nerve control, and symmetrical 
development, it is also true that various influences com- 
bine to form the human carriage. Certain peculiarities in 
carriage can often be traced through entire families or com- 
munities. When confined to families they are usually the 
result of unconscious imitation. Children quite as often 
imitate the carriage as they do the speech of their elders. 

Sometimes the idiosyncracies of locality reflect themselves 
in what might be called physical mannerisms. I know a 
lovely New England town, noted for its pretty girls, bad 
sidewalks, and the rolling gait of its inhabitants. It would 
not be at all difficult in this case to discover the cause of 
the rolling motion seen in the walks of these New Eng- 
land belles. In country villages the rural belles and beaux 
walk with a certain dogged straight-forwardness of motion, 
probably quite as much, if not more, the result of walking 
upon uneven surfaces as of temperaments. In European 
countries where burdens are borne upon the heads of the 



1 94 Correct and Elegant Carriage. 

peasantry, there is a proud carriage of the entire body. The 
women of Eastern nations are noted for a pecuHar graceful- 
ness or gliding motion in walking due, doubtless, to the 
secluded life they lead and to the habit acquired in conse- 
quence of moving as noiselessly as possible. 

As we try to overcome provincialisms in speech so should 
we avoid idiosyncracies in carriage. The cultivation of 
graceful motion "should be regarded as a duty, for the potency 
of its charm cannot be overestimated. Strength, grace, and 
repose of motion should be cultivated, but staginess and 
affectation should be avoided. 

Excellent practise for acquiring a graceful carriage in 
walking consists in poising as far forward as possible, with 
the weight on the right and left foot alternately, moving 
across a long room. 

The manner in which people go up and down stairs is 
productive of many ailments, and a careful observer, who 
understands the anatomy of the body, does not wonder that 
it is so. Notice how much of the dead-lift there is about it. 
The feet and legs are made to act as levers, not only to lift 
the weight of the body up, but also the additional weight 
which is the result of inertia. Instead of raising the chest 
and animating the body to lift its own weight, we bend the 
body nearly double, cramping the organs, hindering free 
circulation and consequently easy breathing; panting for 




Figure 1.9. 



Correct and Elegant Carinage. 197 

breath we reach the top, but in the effort what a spectacle we 
present ! The average woman, weighted down by heavy 
skirts, and fettered by numberless bands, is more faulty in 
carriage than the average man. Men walk up-stairs more 
gracefully than women do, as a rule, because they are less 
burdened with clothing. Observe half a score of men ascend 
a flight of stairs, then watch a group of women as they do 
the same thing. The men will invariably spring from step 
to step with chests active, while the women will contort 
their bodies, and kick their skirts about in a most inel- 
egant manner. 

Going up-stairs is excellent exercise, if it be properly done, 
for those who have no organic trouble and are correctly 
dressed. I will not say that it will not quicken the pulse, 
for in this, as in any other exercise, the force and rapidity of 
muscular action determine the rate at which the blood is 
forced to and from the heart. In going up-stairs the body 
should be held erect, with chest extended, the lungs filled 
with air, and the mouth kept closed. When the top is 
reached the air should be exhaled slowly through the nos- 
trils. In descending, as in ascending stairs, the weight should 
always be on the ball of the foot, and the step should be as 
light as that of a mother by the cradle of her^ sleeping 
babe. 

The proper position of the body in sitting is quite as 



198 Correct and Elegant Carriage. 

essential to health and grace as the proper position in 
standing, walking, and going up-stairs, but the sitting posture 
is usually the signal for relaxing and settling down into most 
awkward and injurious positions, one of which is shown in 
Figure 19. In sitting it is necessary to hold the chest up 
so as to bring the organs into position, that they may per- 
form their functions unhindered. To sit erect does not 
necessarily mean to sit stiffly. Nothing could be more un- 
graceful and tiresome to look upon, nor more demoralizing 
to social approachableness than the person who always sits 
bolt upright, never swaying to right or left. In sitting it 
is essential to guard against bending forward at the waist- 
line, for this contracts the chest, cramps the lungs and 
stomach, and often produces dyspepsia. Another position 
equally injurious is that of slipping out on the chair and 
sitting upon the end of the spine. The spine was made to 
hold the back erect, and not to sit upon, and most serious 
injuries result from this position, against which everybody 
should be w^arned. 

In sitting the chest should always be kept active, and if 
one wishes to bend, the movement should be from the hips, 
but never from the waist. One can bend forward, toward the 
side, or backward, at will, but the hips, not the waist, should 
be made the point of action, as shown in Figure 20. 
When in repose, the hands should be relaxed and the feet 




Figure 20. 



Correct and Elegant Carriage. 201 

allowed to assume an easy, graceful position. The knees 
should never be crossed, for this position, besides being 
inelegant and ungraceful, often leads to paralysis, by divert- 
ing the blood from the leg through pressure. One may 
cross the ankles with propriety and incur no serious results. 

The one rule to be observed by the woman who seeks 
to* be healthy and graceful, is to keep the chest active. It 
should never be relaxed. Holding this part of the body 
constantly erect gives regal poise to the carriage and 
strength to the muscles. To walk correctly, to sit gracefully, 
to ascend stairs easily, argues good bodily conditions. 

A fine bearing is of great advantage, for it has a moral 
significance which people instinctively recognize and respect. 
The person who comes before us with chest raised and 
head erect inspires confidence. The chest is the moral 
centre of the individual; the dramatic expression of man- 
hood and womanhood is located here, and as soon as one 
engages in a mean act the chest retreats. It is impossi- 
ble for a man to steal with the chest raised, the head 
erect, and the body well poised. The chest of the crim- 
inal is sunken, the head bowed and uncertain in poise, the 
carriage sly and cringing. Other things being equal the per- 
son who elevates the chest constantly is more self-respecting 
than the one who habitually depresses it. 



XVL 



MISCELLANEOUS EXERCISES. 

r^IGURE 21 shows an alternating leg movement. Care 
should be taken to swing the foot in a circular move- 
ment from back to front and vice versa, ibur times. This 
is to give steadiness of body and grace to the leg move- 
ment. One should aim to swing the leg without swaying 
the body, but without holding the body rigidly. The posi- 
tion should be one combining ease with firmness of muscle. 
After swinging the leg four times, place the heel of the left 
foot in the hollow of the right; advance the left foot as 
far as possible at an angle of 45°, next bend the left knee 
and carry the weight of the body forward on to the left 
foot, at the same time lifting the elbows on to a level with 
the shoulders and drop the hands lightly upon the chest. 
Then change the weight back on to the right foot by 
straightening the left knee and bending the right. Alter- 
nate several times, or until the muscles begin to feel weary. 




Figure 21. 



Miscellaneous Exercises. 205 

Throughout the exercise do not allow the body to bend at 
the waist, but make the hips, knees, and ankles the points 
of action. Reverse. 

The succeeding exercises are not illustrated, but can be 
easily taken without this aid, if careful attention is given to 
the following directions. 

Having secured a good standing position turn the torso 
alternately to the right and the left without changing the 
feet from the front base position. Place the arms akimbo, 
and turn the body slowly and as far as possible. First turn 
the head, moving it slowly so as not to wrench the neck, 
turn the trunk, making pivots of the waist, hips, knees, and 
ankles. Hold this position for a few seconds, and then 
slowly return the body to position. 

The next exercise should be performed in a quick, springy, 
but not jerky, manner. Good position : place the hands 
upon the hips and lower the body as low as possible by 
bending the knees. Do this without allowing the heels to 
rise from the floor or the body to bend at the waist ; lower 
and raise the body several times. 

Nothing gives dignity and grace to bearing more than 



2o6 Miscellaneoits Exe^^cises. 

a regal poise of the head, and the muscles of the neck can 
be made flexible by practising the following movements of 
muscles : Drop the head forward as low as possible, keep- 
ing the chest elevated ; let the head fall back as low as 
possible first on one shoulder, and then on the other, with- 
out allowing the shoulders to rise. Turn the face a little 
to the right, and drop the head upon the chest at a point 
half-way between the side and the front. Drop the head 
back at a point half-way between the side and the centre 
of the back, and then forward as low as possible, and roll 
it to the right and then around slowly, keeping the eyes 
shut. 

To persons who cannot go to sleep readily the next 
exercise will be of interest, inasmuch as it points to a very 
simple way of overcoming wakefulness. Persons of a ner- 
vous, excitable temperament often incline to insomnia. In 
sleep the brain is in an anaemic condition, while excitement 
stimulates and keeps it wakeful by producing a pressure of 
blood upon it. Inspiring air freely while in a recumbent 
position will often induce repose of the nervous system and 
consequently sleep, as it tends to equalize the circulation of 
the blood. While lying flat upon the back place the hand 
upon the stomach, inhale slowly and deeply, and try to lift 



Miscellaneous Exercises. 207 

the hand by the action of the muscles ; keep the eyeHds 
closed and turn the eyes upward. 

The eye is the best medium through which to establish 
the power of concentration and the poise of the nervous 
system. When you are subject to erratic movements, care- 
ful practise of the following exercises will do much toward 
establishing nerve-control, if taken very slowly : Place the 
palms of the hands toward each other, bringing the fingers 
as closely together as possible without allowing them to 
touch. At first the hands will tremble, but with each suc- 
ceeding day's practise they will grow more steady, and 
ultimately the fingers can be held within an infinitesimal 
part of an inch of each other, and still not touch. 

Another exercise consists in moving about in curves a 
goblet filled with water to within an eighth of an inch of the 
top. Grasp the goblet by the stem and describe figures with 
the hand and arm very slowly. The eye becomes fixed upon 
the goblet, and the mind is interested and concentrated. 
Where there is lack of mental and nerve poise there is a 
corresponding absence of poise in the eye, and any practice, 
no matter how simple it may seem, which fixes the attention 
of the eye, has a beneficial effect upon the mind and nerves. 



2o8 Miscellaneous Exercises. 

To flatten prominent shoulder-blades, cross the arms over 
the chest — which will raise the shoulders into a good posi- 
tion; then, without lowering the shoulders or changing their 
position in any way, drop the arms at the sides. Prominent 
shoulder blades are usually traceable to an incorrect posi- 
tion of them and when they are brought into correct relation 
with the other parts of the body the back presents a flat 
appearance. 



XVII. 

MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS. 

/^^NE of the aids to beauty and perfect health least 
^"^^ considered of women is that of sleep. To lie down 
for half an hour every day, and to cultivate the habit of 
sleeping for this length of time is one of the very best ways 
to restore wasted powers, and to keep fresh the vital 
forces of the system. There a/e certain women who com- 
plain that they can never sleep in the day-time, but these 
are the very ones who need to overcome the physical and 
mental conditions which make a daily nap impossible, and the 
practice of setting apart a little space in each day for rest 
would soon induce the sleeping habit. The mere act of 
lying down is attended with beneficial results, for in doing 
this the circulation of brain and body is equalized, and 
that in itself is a most important desideratum in the life of 
a busy woman. Women who work with their brains 
should, of all classes, cultivate the ability to sleep when- 
ever possessed by a sense of fatigue. The time thus 
taken from labor will be returned in moments of increased 
mental activity enforced by renewed physical powers. 



2IO Miscellaneous Suggestions. 

Not only is sleep a means of quickening dormant 
forces, but it is a wonderful beautifier with whose value 
every woman should be familiar. During sleep, or during 
that semblance of sleep which the reclining upon a couch 
and suspension of all activity induces, the muscles of the 
face and of the entire body relax. Wrinkles are warded 
off, the grace of health is cultivated, and manifestations of 
quickened being are seen in bright skins, sparkling eyes, 
and buoyant movement. 

For those who are troubled with insomnia the habit of 
engaging in some of the lighter physical movements just 
before retiring will often result in permanent cure. When 
this practice is impossible it is well to partake of light 
food, which is sometimes a most efficacious way of induc- 
ing sleep. The attitude one assumes upon retiring is a 
subject of relative importance. Upon first seeking the couch 
it is well to lie for a few minutes on the left side, and then, 
before overcome by a sense of drowsiness, to turn upon 
the right side, as this position is best for sleep, giving as 
it does free play to all the internal organs. To lie npon 
the back impedes the circulation and to sleep with the arms 
above the head is unhealthful, for the same reason. 

To sleep with the mouth open is a habit in which' 



Miscellaneous Suggestions. 211 



no one should allow herself to become confirmed. The 
diy, parched, disagreeable sensation in the tongue and 
mouth with which one accustomed to this practice awakes 
in the morning is evidence of its effect upon internal 
organs. If the mouth cannot be kept closed by effort 
of the will, let it be tied up until the habit of keeping 
it so is induced. Air introduced into the lungs through 
the mouth is often poisonous to the system. 

That all sleeping-rooms should be well-ventilated at night 
as well as exposed during the day to the combined influ- 
ence of light and air ought to be understood by all, but it 
is not. No civilized people on the face of the globe are more 
afraid of air than Americans. We shut it out from our 
homes by all possible means. We have double windows on 
our houses, heavy portieres at our doors and, in some 
instances, canopies over our beds. The influence of ventil- 
ation and sunlight upon health is a subject very imperfectly 
comprehended, and this ignorance is a most prolific cause of 
ill-health. 

The organic action of the body is not suspended during 
sleep, and to bre:athe noxious vapors during the night is 
an even more deadly practice than to inhale them during 
the day. It is not necessary in order to secure pure air that 



212 Miscellaneous Suggestions, 

the bed should be in the line of draughts, but there must 
be opportunity for free circulatio'n of air in order to have 
it fresh, and every morning the windows of all sleeping- 
rooms, and, indeed, of all others, should be thrown open 
for an hour at least while the bedding is exposed to light 
and air. The windows should be opened from the top as 
well as the bottom, and a current of air should flow unob- 
structed through the room. The germs of disease lurking in 
atmospheric sewage are thus destroyed. Bacteria are found 
in air as animalculae are found in water. 

Open fire-places, to which our ancestors were so largely 
indebted for their vigorous health, were excellent devices for 
ventilatiing the houses in which they were placed, and where 
one is her own architect they should always be included in 
the plan for the modern home. Furnace? and steam radi- 
ators should never be called into requisition except in very 
cold weather when necessary to protect the water pipes. 
The temperature of a room should be about sixty-eight 
degrees. The American habit of heating to from seventy- 
five to ninety degrees is alike detrimental to health and 
ruinous to good looks. 

In addition to shutting out the pure air from their rooms 
during sleep many people further impair their physical 



Miscellaneous Suggestions, 213 

powers by sleeping under a heavy weight of bed-clothing. 
As a consequence they awake in the morning with a sense of 
languor and absolute loss of vitality. We should sleep under 
as little clothing as is compatible with warmth, and never 
use spreads that are bulky in weight. Blankets, or the warm, 
light, and healthful eider-down quilts should be used. 

Pillows, as ordinarily made, also come under hygienic 
condemnation. To sleep with the head raised above the 
body is to impede circulation, cause bad dreams and, by 
no means least, to make the bod}^ round-shouldered and 
hollow-chested. It is being found out, too, that to sleep 
on pillows causes premature wrinkles. Note on arising 
the lines on the side of the face slept upon ; they may 
remain at first for only a few minutes after arising, but the 
place in which they form will as the years come and go 
get to know them permanently. It is better from all 
standpoints of health and beauty to abandon pillows alto- 
gether, or to use only very flat ones made of hair. One 
can inure herself to any habit, and although sleeping without 
a pillow may be at first attended with discomfort, no one 
who persists in its disuse could be induced to resume it. 

With all the rest one should know that there are hygienic 
rules for getting out of bed. To spring from the couch 



2L/\. Miscellaneotis Suggestions. 

immediately upon awaking is to give a shock to the system 
which, often repeated, is attended with most disastrous results. 
During sleep the brain is in an anaemic condition, and to 
arise suddenly is to force a rush of blood to the head and 
produce a pressure upon the brain which through successive 
occurrences may cause insanity. One should awaken slowly 
— that is allow consciousness to resume complete sway of all 
the powers before arising to perform the first act of the day. 

That all who desire to live in conformity with the laws of 
hygiene should sleep alone is a fact not as generally accepted 
as it should be. It remains true, nevertheless, that no two 
persons can sleep together without losing vitality in conse- 
quence. Mental and physical conditions are directly com- 
municable through such association, and the more sensitive 
of the two bed-fellows will absorb the poisonous excretions 
from the body of the other which are thrown out from the 
system during sleep. Often the languor and nervousness 
with which certain individuals arise in the morning is directly 
traceable to the influence of the companion during sleep. 

Where it becomes necessary for two persons to occupy the 
same room, let separate beds be provided, and no conjugal or 
family association allow the unhealthy custom of sleeping 
with another to prevail. If one argues that the excessive 
vitality of one individual can be beneficently shared with 



Miscellaneous Suggestions, 215 

another, it must be remembered in answer to such argument 
that there are electrical charges going on in the system 
during sleep, and where two persons sleep night after night 
together these distributing causes will work mutually de- 
structive results. 

It is well, also, for individuals of sensitive temperament to 
observe the position in which the bed is placed, for to sleep 
in opposition to certain magnetic currents is attended with 
most unhappy results for some persons. The correct posi- 
tion of the bed is north and south, so placed that the head of 
the occupant shall be toward the north. 

The frequent use of the vaginal douche is a practice 
with whose value every woman should be made familiar. 
It prevents disease in many forms, and not only strength- 
ens the pelvic organs, but acts, oftentimes, as a tonic to 
the entire system. Every mother who values the health 
of her daughter should teach her at the proper time the 
intelligent use of this most important act. Let hot water 
be used where any organic inflammation exists. Several 
quarts of the hot water should be used, as in smaller quan- 
tities it is less efficacious. Among certain women there is 
a 'prejudice against the use of the vaginal douche which 
is as ignorant as it is ill-founded. The time for the super- 



2i6 Miscellaneous Suggestions. 

stitions which gave rise to such prejudices is past, and no 
woman who appreciates the influences that affect health 
should allow any mistaken beliefs from the minds of the 
ignorant or evil-thinking to control her action. Every in- 
telligent and well-educated physician advocates for every 
woman the frequent use of the vaginal douche. 

The nasal douche is also a most important accessory to 
the toilet. Its use is both healthful and cleansing, and, 
where one is suffering from catarrhal troubles, often immedi- 
ately beneficial. 

To so train the muscles of the throat as to throw water 
up the back passage to the nose is a most excellent practice 
for persons having catarrhal difficulties. Let the water used 
be warm and slightly impregnated with sea-salt. From the 
long-continued daily practice of the foregoing a serious case 
df catarrh was finally cured by a friend of mine. * 

To clean the tongue daily is, withal, as important to 
health as any other act of the toilet, for " the tongue, though 
a little member, defileth the whole body." This is true from 
more standpoints than one. Not only may the body be 
defiled through its . evil speaking, and by its misuse, referred 
to in the chapter on Vocal Gymnastics, but also by its lin- 
cleanliness. The defiling influence of an ill-kept tongue is 



Miscellaneous Suggestions. 217 

far more insidious than is generally recognized. It reacts 
upon the stomach, of whose disordered condition it is often 
indicative, and by giving to all food an unpleasant taste di- 
rectly affects the digestive organs, and hence influences the 
head and nervous system. People most tenacious in other 
habits of cleanliness are, oftentimes, most neglectful of this 
" little member," and as a rule, because they are ignorant of 
its physical influence. Health and cleanliness demand that 
it should be scraped daily and thoroughly washed in water to 
which it is well to add a drop of the tincture of myrrh. 
I have known a sickly infant to be visibly improved in 
health by having its tongue washed every morning in a 
solution of myrrh and water, and if on any occasion the 
act was omitted, the little thing would by gestures call 
attention to the omission, and grown up people, accustomed 
to the practice, become equally sensitive to its neglect, and 
note its indications as quickly as they do the disagreeable 
sensation of uncleaned teeth. 

Rules for keeping the breath sweet and the mouth clean 
are supposed to be comprised in the daily care of the teeth 
and cleansing of the tongue, but the use of a daily gargle 
made of myrrh, borax and water is the surest of all ways to 
guard against bad odors in the mouth. To a pint of water 
add a small piece of borax and a few drops of myrrh, bottle, 



2i8 Miscellaneous Suggestions. 

and with this wash the mouth after each meal, and gargle 
the throat thoroughly once a day. It is an 'excellent idea, 
also, to cleanse in this way the teeth, the enamel of which 
may be injured by too frequent application of the tooth 
brush, and should, so the best dentists now say, be used only 
twice a day. 

All influences through which the mouth may inhale un- 
pleasant odors should be carefully guarded against. Espe- 
cially reprehensible is the habit of promiscuous kissing 
enforced by a custom as ridiculous and unmeaning as it is 
unhygienic. To a sensitive person it is positively painful to 
inhale, through the contact of the lips, the breath of another, 
and it is a well-known scientific fact that diseases may be 
communicated in this way. It is time, too, that helpless 
children were protected from this most senseless and cruel of 
customs, against which they often openly make instinctive 
warfare. 

Few women need to be reminded of the charm a beau- 
tiful, well-kept hand possesses for every beholder, and yet 
many ladies of refinement neglect the means by which the 
hand can be made to retain the form and grace of outline 
which characterize its appearance in the early years of life. 
Oriental women neglect no arts whereby they can keep the 
shape and beauty of the hand, and often an old woman will 



Miscellaneous Suggestions. 219 

surprise one with the girHsh, youthful appearance of this 
member. One of the first requisites to the possession of a 
beautiful hand is that it should be carefully washed eveiy 
night in warm water and with pure soap, and then be 
anointed with cold cream and encased in loose kid gloves. 
If the veins are prominent, devitalizing exercises, as given 
elsewhere, should be practised, and if their exercise is inef- 
fectual it may be concluded that the vital powers of the 
system require toning. 

The nails, which make or mar any hand when examined 
closely, should be carefully tended and polished each morn- 
ing. Any cuticle which appears on their surface should be 
carefully removed with the cuticle-knife, first soaking the nails 
in warm water that they may the more readily yield to treat- 
ment. The flesh should not be pushed back, but gently 
lifted with an orange-stick such as is used by all manicures. 
Cutting the flesh should never take place, but the habit once 
begun has to be persisted in. If the nails are not shapely 
they can be made so by intelligent treatment, and no refined 
person should ignore any of the little arts, the results of 
which are often most significant to the casual beholder. 
Where the nails are brittle they may be strengthened by the 
judicious use of the file and emery board, and when shaping is 
required it is far better to resort to these aids than to scissors. 



2 20 Miscellaneoits Siiggestioiis. 

If the nails are short daily care will tend to lengthen them. 
To polish the nails and use the ointments prepared for their 
treatment is an excellent way of improving their appearance, 
and the same arguments which oppose such detailed atten- 
tion would apply to the use of soap for the hands. 

As washing the hands before retiring is most essential 
to the retention of their shape, so is the daily bathing of 
the feet an important act for one who wishes to keep them 
shapely, or give them beauty of form. Bathing the feet 
frequently is also excellent for those who suffer from 
excessive perspiration of these members as well as for those 
sensitive to the cold. 

To have beautiful feet it is of primary importance that 
they should be hygienically dressed. High heels, it is 
well known, throw the foot forward and by causing the 
joints to protrude give it an ugly shape. They also interfere 
with grace of movement, and render a perfect carriage of the 
body difficult. But while high heels are most injurious, 
heelless shoes are not desirable. To walk with grace and 
ease it is almost necessary to have a heel, for the sole of the 
modern shoe is unyielding and curved in such a way that the 
heel is required to give impetus to the step. Great care 
should be taken in the selection of foot-wear, for an ill-shaped 



Miscellaneous Suggestions. 221 

or badly-fitting shoe is often the direct cause of physical 
ailments which are attributed to any but the correct source. 
A boot when selected should always be larger than the foot, 
as in action the foot expands and where boots are " made 
to order " a workman should be employed who understands 
the anatomy of the foot as well as the quality of kid. I have 
known feet, almost deformed by the wearing of ill-fitting 
shoes, restored to comeliness and shape by the care of an 
intelligent shoe-maker. 

In the case of growing children great care should be taken 
in the selection of all foot-wear, as inattention to the feet 
at this period often results in serious malformations. The 
feet should be allowed to develop naturally, and no pressure 
of stocking or shoe brought to bear upon the tender little 
foot. Shoes larger than the foot should always be pur- 
chased, as otherwise before they are worn out the little grow- 
ing toes crowd against the ends and are then pushed back to 
become thick and stubby. Square toed stockings should 
always be worn. 

It is not generally known that tight shoes will affect the 
eyes. Yet this is so. When the feet are cramped and 
uncomfortable the nervous system is most susceptible to the 
influence of such discomfort, and this susceptibility is most 



22 2 Miscellaneous Suggestions. 

likely to manifest itself after a time in pains about the head 
and eyes. ^ 

Dotted veils are another prolific cause of injury to the 
visual organs, and should be avoided by all women who 
value the possession of their eye-sight. Certain veils aid, 
it is true, in protecting the skin from climatic influ- 
ences, but the dotted ones are not even in this category, 
and serve at best but to keep the hair smooth, to impart 
a tictitious brilliancy to the complexion, or to conceal 
the art by which it is secured. The muscles of the face 
and the skin need a goodly amount of fresh air, and veils 
should only be worn in very rough weather. When one 
is used let it be of that shade of gray which is the color 
of fog. It is a safe shade, while black induces tan, white 
injures the eyes, and the other fashionable colors are all 
under the ban of science. 

When the eyes become sensitive from any physical or 
mental derangement it is best to secure glasses without 
delay. To strain the optic nerve at such a time by refus- 
ing to aid nature is a most serious mistake, and one 
which many persons regret only too late. If the act of 
reading or of observing any object is attended with ever 
so slight difficulty, let an oculist or optician be at once 



Miscellaneous Suggestions. 223 

consulted and glasses suited to the temporary need be 
secured. 



Persons for whom the experience of a railroad journey 
is attended with discomfort, because of the constantly 
changing objects presented to the vision, will lessen such 
discomfort by riding backwards, as in this position the 
range of vision is lengthened. 

It is a mistaken belief to suppose that while the eyes 
of most persons are sensitive to light during sickness the 
entire room should therefore be darkened. A screen or 
shade may protect the patient from the direct rays of the 
sun, but sunlight is too important an element in life to be 
barred out from any place where humnn beings stay. 
Not only does it purify the atmosphere, but it acts directly 
upon physical and mental life. It not only tones up the 
vital powers, but dissipates the melancholia to which most 
invalids are subject. 

Neuralgic troubles, which often seriously affect the head 
and eyes, are aggravated by over-indulgence, it is averred, 
m the tea-drinking habit. Coffee, into which the juice of 
a lemon has been squeezed, is recommended in place of 
tea to such sufferers. All such diseases indicate, however, 



2 24 Miscellaneoiis Suggestions. 

lowered vitality and are most effectually remedied by 
agencies which tone up the system. 

While coffee is a wonderful stimulant for certain indi- 
viduals, it should be avoided by persons of a bilious or 
nervous temperament. Certain physicians recommend tea 
to such people, but one's own personal experience is the 
best test of what she can eat or drink. 

Few complexions can withstand the influence of coffee, 
while tea makes ravages quite as great among those of a 
super-sensitive temperament. 

Tea may be used as a toilet accessory, however, with 
impunity by those young women who desire to improve, 
thicken and darken their eye-lashes. It is said, moreover, 
to be strengthening to weak eyes to bathe them in 
strong tea. 

It is not best, as a rule, to interfere with nature's tints in 
the matter of eye-lashes, eye-brows, or hair. Her laws may 
be studied to improve their appearance, and simple arts for 
the improvement of the personal appearance are thus learned. 
If the hair is thin it may be thickened by stimulating the 
roots by vigorous rubbings. If lustreless it may be bright- 
'ened by judicious brushings, or by sleeping in a silk cap. 
The latter way of brightening it is sometimes the more 
commendable, as the brush is too vigorous a mode of treat- 



Miscellaneous Suggestions. 225 

ment when the hair is not strong or abundant. The eye- 
brows should receive daily attention. 

For those who value all rules for the attainment or preser- 
vation of beauty the importance of frequently changing the 
fabrics worn next the skin must be borne in mind. They 
soon become charged with waste matter which is re-absorbed 
into the system. A poor complexion may often be restored 
to health by the simple act of changing the underclothmg 
several times a week. Those who value a skin free from 
blemishes should also know that distorting the face when in 
a strong light is a prolific source of wrinkles and is also 
vulgar. 

Constipation, another fruitful cause of bad complexions, 
may be cured by massage of the bowels. The movement 
should be from the lower right hand side up, across the 
top and down on the left side. This movement should 
be used for at least five minutes daily. A tablespoonful 
of oil — equal parts of olive and castor — used in con- 
nection with the massage is most beneficial. Castor oil 
used in this way is quite as efficacious as when taken 
internally. 

Alcoholic stimulants, so frequently resorted to by women 
as means of securing temporary brilliancy are most unfortu- 



2 26 Miscellaneous Suggestions. 

nate influences in the life of any person who would strength- 
en in advancing years the powers of youth. 

Stimulants generate electricity, but it is a fire that con- 
sumes more of the nerve force than it supplies. The nerves 
of a stimulated body commence at once to convey the vitality 
to the surface, where it passes off very rapidly, and when the 
action is over the person is much weaker than in the normal 
condition. Long-continued stimulation results in degenera- 
tion of the forces. In some cases tea and coffee are quite 
as pernicious stimulants as alcoholic drinks. 

There are some inelegant customs which, when acquired, 
must be overcome by constant thought, and one of these is 
the habit of grimacing, for which American women are so 
m.uch criticised by foreigners. It is desirable to have a mo- 
bile expression, but when every thought is allowed to write 
itself in the face it is unpleasant for those about one. If 
only pleasant expressions were conveyed so much harm 
would not be done ; but the curl of the scornful lip and the 
disdainfully elevated brows are more cruel than words at 
times. Another very inelegant thing so characteristic of 
American women is the habit of getting excited and loud- 
voiced. It does not add anything to conversation to speak 
in loud tones, and brandish the hands in violent gestures, 

and such an exhibition is offensive to persons of refined 



Miscellaneous Siiggesiions. 227 

sensibilities. The great fundamental principle of correct 
deportment is the constant consideration of the people 
about one with the view to make them comfortable and 
happy. Repose in speech and manner means health and 
grace for the possessor, comfort and delight to other people. 
Every woman should adopt for her motto the comprehen- 
sive one : 

"KNOW THYSELF." 



